


Bonded For Life

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Beltane special, M/M, Modern AU, magical au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-02
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-10 05:29:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/782349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had a blue ribbon wound around his thumb.<br/>Startling contrast to the pale skin.<br/>Bonded it means. Not available for anyone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day Before The Wedding

Everyone that is anyone in their family is invited to stay at their manor. The grandeur of the ceremony probably will be written in the history of Camelot. After all Pendragons had been the lords of this land since the middle ages and after his great grand-father wisely decided to invest in business instead of caring what other nobles had to say about this trend, let's just say, such grandeur was to be expected. After all it was the wedding of the only heir of the Pendragon blood-line and the future owner and leader of the Pendragon Empire. If you didn't count Morgana. And somehow no-one counted Morgana and she seemed to delight in this fact. Arthur had no hopes of ever understanding his half-sister.

Except maybe he did. He had dreamed of that free life ones. Had rebelled against being the heir of a business empire instead of being Arthur. Had gone out of his way to pursue his passion of music and composition to defy his father, who considered it an hobby of plebeians.

  
But that was when his life was filled with the sing-song call of Arthurrr coming from the window of his chambers, of chasing soft foot falls in the enormous court-yard of Pendragon Manor, of mind-blowing smiles and sometimes - sometimes very very rarely, soft blushes. But mostly they were filled of light-hearted bickering and subtle encouragement towards following his heart and long afternoons of composing and then Merlin would add beautiful lyrics to that tone; sometimes willingly sometimes after long hours of coaxing and whining.

Maybe it's the realization that this was it. The end of that life, if there was anything left to end or maybe it is the ghost of this past mocking him. But he hears the same Arthurrr that used to have him running to his window in seconds. But there is no Merlin there now, as he looks out just out of habit. There is just the blank wall. The wedding decorations hanging there more prominently than anywhere else, as if it could hide the absurdity of that tall, bare wall in between the two manors; marring the beauty by its unexpected presence there.

The giggles of excited children passing by his door brings him back to the reality just as there is a polite knock on his door.  
"It's open." He is not surprised to find that his voice sounds choked by the suppressed emotions.  
"Miss Alice has requested you to meet her at their place, sir"  
He is startled into looking back out of the window, before once again remembering what he would see there.  
"And what does she want from this meeting." He asks hoping that the servant will take the slight shake in his voice to be anger rather than whatever it was.  
"She didn't state any purpose, sir. Just that it is important." Edwin's voice is smooth though his face shows slight revulsion that he must be feeling from Arthur's apparent dis-respect of the elderly. Any other servant wouldn't have dared to even pass this message to anyone in the Pendragon household but Edwin had always showed more Loyalty to Gaius and Alice than the people whom he actually served. And if he was honest, Arthur couldn't really blame him.  
Such thoughts were treason to his father and it would be an even greater one if he actually accepted the invitation.

Perhaps it was the wish to do a last act of rebel, something to show his father that even though he had won this time, Arthur wasn't going to let him dictate his entire life and actions. Whatever it was, it had Arthur at the main gates of Ebrauc Manor in next fifteen minutes. Ebrauc's were once a wealthy family having history as ancient as the Pendragons. But unlike the Pendragons, the family had deviated towards academics a long time before the foundation of Pendragon Business Empire. Somewhere along the line they had lost most of their fortune and estate. In fact, until recently their manor was also mortgaged to Uther. But regardless of their wealth or lack of it thereof, no-one in the whole Camelot had anything other than respect for Gaius and Alice , love and adoration for their son Percival and even more so for their ward Merlin.

Reining his emotions, Arthur passed the message of his arrival to the unfamiliar servant that greeted him. Soon the servant had returned to lead him inside.

The first thought that entered his mind once inside was how bare the rooms looked. His mind had barely registered the implication of this when he found himself inside Alice's chambers. The servant took his leave immediately after Alice appeared at another door that led to Merlin and Percival's childhood room. This room and, from whatever little he had seen in the moment's span of Percival's childhood room, seemed to be the only rooms that had some sort of furniture remaining, although the bags packed indicated that it was not going to remain so for much longer.

Alice looked as kind and lovely as she always had; though it was clear that Gaius's passing had had its toll on his health. The sudden overwhelming flood of guilt made his heart squeeze as the widow smiled at him kindly and asked him to take a seat. He barely managed to suppress it, reminding himself that it was hardly his fault and his father had his reasons.

"I assume that you know the news of my late husband." Alice asked him as soon as he had recovered, basically undoing all his efforts.

"Y- yes. I have heard. I offer my condolences." His sincerity was real though, whatever his father's opinions, Arthur had always thought Gaius was an ideal human being. Someone that you looked up to if you wanted to live a respectable life.

Alice's eyes flashed for a moment. Perhaps being a widow changed something in women. Made them more independent and protective of whatever they hold dear that is left now. But this was definitely a new side of Alice.

"And I assume that this news was only just delivered to you for I didn’t receive any correspondence from you , even though Gwen assured me that you had both the address and contact number to do so." Her voice was polite but Arthur could sense the icy edge in it and physically restrained himself from fidgeting.  
He could see it in her eyes, the disappointment she felt about him. Though she had never implied it in any manner of speech, he knew what she must be thinking. She had expected him to be different than his father and he had failed her spectacularly. He knew this because Morgana liked to remind him of this on every opportunity possible. But seeing this disappointment in a person's eyes that was as close to a mother as he had ever had was unsettling to say the least, if not downright depressing. And he felt the immediate need to lash out about her failure with her ward that she had raised as her son; but Uther's son or not, Arthur was not that heartless and he knew that Alice must not know anything about her ward's crimes.

The exact moment this thought crossed his mind; there was a crash and yelp of someone who had stumbled to fall straight on... yes the floor.

Arthur froze and the world seemed to tilt for a while before straightening again.

He was here. Merlin was here. Right in the next room.

"Arthur, dear is something the matter?" Alice asked, not unkindly. She seemed unaffected by the commotion in the next room. Years of living with her clumsy ward must have made her oblivious to these kinds of sounds by now. Because Merlin, god! he was in the next room!, could stumble upon air let alone perfectly smooth floor.

"No, I am fine." He hurried to reassure, loosening his tie slightly.

Alice looks doubtful but continues to speak clearly thinking that it was no longer her concern about what was going through Arthur's mind.

"Regardless" She must have been waiting for his answer when he had been thinking, "it's in the past now. My son-in-law has been a great support through it all and somehow we managed to survive it unscratched. Though, living here is a painful matter for everyone in the family except for Percival. But he also wishes to shift permanently to London. So we are leaving as of tomorrow. Merlin said he has something on his mind about what to do of the manor" Her voice hitches slightly here and she tries to cover it by coughing, "But it seems that it will be a permanent arrangement."

Arthur had gone numb after the mention of the son-in-law. Of course he had known about the marriage and had suffered the absolute agony silently for last year. But when put in this light, the son-in-law who was the support of everyone in Merlin's family opposed to a neighbour, whose father was the reason for the same family’s suffering; Arthur wanted nothing more than to scream at that moment. And now that he registers her words slowly, he finds it difficult even to speak. Only years of practice of being a Pendragon, a rebel but still a Pendragon at the end, give him the ability to speak the next words.

"So this is a goodbye then?" He asks and his voice gives a treacherous tremble at the end that has Alice's eyes softening.

"Yes, Arthur. I wanted to talk to you one last time. Whatever happened in last year, I don't blame you for anything. It was what fates wanted. Or how was it possible that the treatment of the best physicians in Ealdor, known for miracles in their treatment, had failed miserably. In any case, I could hardly leave without so much as a goodbye to someone, whom Gaius had come to love as a son." And she had too, but he understood her reluctance in saying that.

 ** _'Don't leave'._**  He wanted to say. Beg even. But even as he thought that, he knew her not-leaving wouldn't help. For Merlin must be leaving regardless of where Alice and Percival stayed. And he would never stop bothering them till he has them in London eventually.

"Thank you. It means a great deal to me. I- I will miss all of you. But I understand that asking for a regular correspondence would be too much."  
She looks sad and tired but doesn't contradict him. Instead she gets up and as he hurriedly follows, gives him a warm hug that, he realizes with a jolt, would be the last motherly hug he will ever receive from now on.

He blinks away the tears and blocks the sound of the humming that is coming from the next door to keep from feeling more pain.

"We will miss you too. Merlin-. We will all miss you." She says softly and he wonders how much she is really ignorant about his feelings towards her now married ward.

He leaves hurriedly after that. Not wanting pity from anyone. He has survived enough humiliations as it is.

When he is going down the stairs he hears the familiar foot falls and in less than a second his heart stops as the same voice falls on his ears.

"Arthurrr."

Arthur stops abruptly. Not knowing what Merlin is thinking he is doing. Not believing this is happening. Not knowing whether he wants this to happen or not. Not knowing anything except for the fact that Merlin's voice was as beautiful as ever and he hadn't heard it for more than a year and he had missed it  ** _so much_**.

He turns around reluctantly. Merlin is giving him a playful smile as he descends down the stairs and stands right in front of Arthur, and if Arthur wouldn't have known Merlin for the better part of his life as intimately as he knew, he wouldn't have been able to detect the slight hesitance in the azure eyes that are looking straight into his eyes as if searching for something.

"What do you want?" He more or less snarls before turning to leave, thinking that whatever this was, he wasn't ready to deal with it. Not now, not when Merlin is married to Gwaine Du-Lot, and Arthur is going to be married to Mithian tomorrow.

He is stopped by a hand on his wrist as Merlin pulls him back playfully.

"Well if it isn't my favourite pratliness being rude again."  ** _'What is he thinking he is doing?_**." Leaving already? Without meeting me? Why Arthur?" Merlin continues without answering his silent question," Now that you are going to be married to Mithian tomorrow, you don't want look at me?" His voice has gone low somewhere near Arthur. And he is getting nearer to Arthur, whose thoughts are scattered with the close proximity,

"I have heard you are getting married tomorrow. Did you completely forget me? Don't want to talk with me? Don't want to insult me? And and what about touching me Arthur?" His had slides upwards towards Arthur's biceps, voice low and sweet as honey,

"What about making love to me?" He asks looking alternatively in Arthur's eyes and at his lips.

Arthur is stunned silent. Frozen on spot. His breath has gone haywire at the way it is all but mingling with Merlin's. His arm is burning at the point where he feels Merlin's hand resting on it. Unconsciously his eyes seek that sight.

He has a blue string wound around his thumb. Startling contrast to the pale skin.

Bonded it means. Not available for anyone else.

The fact that it is not a proper wedding band, doesn't puzzle Arthur as much as it angers him to see that hand, the same one proclaiming that Merlin is not his anymore, not in the world's eyes, not even in his eyes, resting on his arm as if it belongs there. As if it has any right to be there.

He has pushed Merlin away before he knows what he is doing and by the time he looks, Merlin is slumped against the railing looking hurt and  ** _betrayed_**  of all things.

"Have some shame Merlin. There is no need to prove again and again how mistaken I was in understanding the kind of person you are. How can you even do this when you are- you are  ** _married_**?" He positively spits before descending the rest of the stairs.

The broken, "Being married is the only reason I am doing this" that falls on his ears has him twist his mouth in disgust as he slams the door behind him.  
  ~o0o~

 


	2. Gaius's Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Here is my pocket-money. Anytime you need it, just take it. You don't need to ask anyone."  
> "Not even you?" Merlin had asked, his eyes wide with surprise.  
> "Not even me."

  
 

 

 

They had composed this song when he was 9 year old. And they had never forgotten it, nor did they change the childish lyrics to something mature. For years they had sung it. Voices maturing, but never the lyrics, nor the composition. It was something of their own; something very special.

As his fingers trace the familiar path on the piano, he lets his mind wander to all those years back and then to the years that had followed and the song automatically changed to something different entirely.

                                                                                                                                        ~o0o~

_He had scraped his knee and bruised his elbow as he climbed on the fence of Ebrauc manor._

_He had always been proud of his wall climbing skills. It had been an useful skill._

_Uncle Gaius and Aunt Alice were nice people. But the gardner wasn't very keen on having flying cricket balls out of the blue. And as it was always Arthur, who liked to show everyone that he was better than perfect-Lance in everything, who would score a sixer by hitting it beyond the fence of their court-yard; it was always Arthur who had to retrieve the ball in stealthy ways to avoid being caught by angry George._

_For the umptieth time he stood on the fence of the manor and looked at the city around, which was not a much better view that from the ground, and was proud of himself. Now he just had to jump in bushes below, where he guessed his ball had fallen, and retrieve it before climbing back and going to play again._

_He jumped, with his usual grace and skill and was flying for a second before he fell hard._

_On a boy, maybe , possibly, probably, definitely 2 years younger than him._

_He stared, horrified as to what was going to happen next. No wonder he hadn't been able to see him from above the fence. The kid was scrawny, and tiny and cute and he had fallen on him, with his considerable build-up for an eight year-old and with speed._

_The boy sat up gingerely and examined something on the ground, then he turned around to look at Arthur properly before yelling,_

_"You clotpole. You destroyed Pip." Before abruptly starting to bawl his eyes out, cradling something in his hands that must have been some sort of plant, before, er, before the fall._

_Arthur was horrified as the boy looked more and more distressed and the tears started flooding down his cheeks._

_That the boy wasn't angry at him for falling on him, but for destroying a pretty ordinary plant amused him to no end. So he tried to placate the kid by patting awkwardly on his back and saying._

_"Don't cry. Please don't cry. There is nothing cry about. It's just a plant."_

_In an instant the boy had jumped up and was glaring at him through teary eyes._

_"I hate you" He declared vehemently. "I hate you so much. I hate you, hate you, hate you."_

_Before running towards the manner with 'Pip' still in his hand, leaving Arthur dumb-struck in the garden._

_~o0o~_

_At first Arthur tried very hard to forget the incident. After all he hadn't done it intentionally. Destroying Pip that is. Who named a plant Pip anyway? And it was just a plant. He hadn't said anything horrible. He could buy thousand, okay maybe not thousand, ten such plants with his pocket money._

_But for some reason, he couldn't forget it. The boy's face as he glared at him with azure eyes filled with hurt, tears still falling from them, his wobbling chin and his weird ears were all Arthur could see for some days. It didn't help that, again for some unfathomable reason, the 'I hate you's by the boy had hurt Arthur more than all the other 'I hate you's he had received in his eight years of life._

_It was not fair and Arthur had not done anything purposefully and he shouldn't be blamed nor should he feel guilty._

_But when Gwen told him excitedly about the little boy at Uncle Gaius's, that had talked to her and told her that she was very kind and pretty because she had helped him bury something that must have been a plant, called 'Pip' while he looked miserable, had him overwhelmed with guilt. He reluctantly and unreasonably confessed his part in Pip's death and looked down._

_Gwen being Gwen, was still nice to him._

_"It's okay. He is much happier now and he would even forgive you if you apologize to him."_

_Then in a solemn voice she added,_

_"His mother died recently, you know. He is an orphan now and he will be here as Gaius's ward since he has no other relatives. It was probably the loss of his mother that had him so emotional at that time. By now he has recovered a little bit."_

_If this was supposed to make him feel better, it was a very much failed attempt._

_Merlin had lost his mother recently and Arthur had killed his plant, yes killed, and now he was tempted to hate himself._

_But 'a Pendragon' his father always used to say, ‘does not worry about past mistakes. He tries not to repeat them and cover up the consequences of the past one."_

_He didn't know what 'cover up' was supposed to mean. Perhaps his father meant 'make up for the past mistakes'. And Arthur was going to do exactly that._

_~o0o~_

_"Hi" He said to the kid standing at the edge of the garden, looking delightedly at a butterfly._

_The kid turned around as if shocked and then took a step back after recognizing Arthur._

_After a moment of silence, in which Arthur had a feeling that he was being judged and tried not to be nervous about it, Merlin gave him a soft smile._

_"Hi, I am Merlin." The boy had extended his right hand, so to shake it Arthur had to shift his gift that he was hiding behind his back to his left hand and this had the boy trying to peek behind his back. He saved Merlin the trouble by offering the gift to him before he hurt himself with over-bursting curiosity._

_Merlin blinked at it before looking at Arthur questioningly, a tiny tiny frown formed between his eyebrows._

_"Er, this is for you. I am sorry for, you know, destroying Pip." Arthur said, the apology feeling strange on his untrained tongue._

_Merlin took the cage in his hand and peered inside curiously before looking up only to scowl at Arthur and yess, "You dollop-head! Why would you do that? Why would you cage a poor, little innocent bird?"_

_Arthur was shocked to the core of his eight year old body, as he mechanically answered,_

_"Er, I didn't cage it. I just bought it. As an apology. For you." He gave a hopeful smile, not understanding what he had done wrong this time._

_Merlin scowled at him harder before saying, "Same thing."_

_Next thing Arthur knew, the cage was open and the bird was vanishing outside the manor-grounds and he felt terrible terrible sadness. He had been so thoughtful, and he had been so stubborn to get a 'Merlin and Merlin' only and he wanted to be friends with the kid but now the bird was flying and Merlin still hated him._

_His eyes slowly went back to Merlin and to his astonishment he found Merlin giving him a dazzling smile._

_"Now that's done, thank you. It was very nice of you."_

_Arthur required a whole minute to recover from his shock, during which the Peaks of Merlin's ears turned pink pinker and pinker._

_"Er.."_

_"Gwen told me that you were sorry for Pip. You didn't have to get me a merlin."_

_"Umm yes I was sorry, still am; I mean. I am Arthur by the way." He said belatedly._

_"Prat." Merlin replied smilingly before waving him a bye and bounding towards the manor._

_"Huh. Not bad."_

_~o0o~_

_ So still is my heart's beat. _

_ Aching to hear the sounds of your feet. _

_ My life has lost it's melody _

_ My songs are mute with defeat. _

_~o0o~_

_Gaius and Alice's son Percival was studying in a boarding school and it needed money; a lot of money that Gaius struggled to make by his Physician’s earning, which wasn't much. The fact that even then they had decided to take ward of the orphan kid, instead sending him away to orphanage was the kind of thing that made them the best people to ever live on earth. Merlin went to school like everyone else, but they couldn't afford many luxuries for him. But Merlin seemed more than happy in whatever he had. He could usually be found in the garden, chasing butterflies, and amusing the gardener with his incessant questions and naive jokes. Poking at the roots of some plant or another, with a scrunched up nose as if thinking very hard about something._

_Arthur knew this because he had gone there every day after the 'bird-incident'. There was something special about Merlin and he desperately wanted him as his friend._

_Merlin didn't play cricket that much. He would always end up sunburnt after staying for more than 10 minutes in their bare cricket field that Pendragon's owned a little distance away from the manor, and that sometimes kids found time to travel to, instead of just playing in the court-yard._

_Apart from Gwen, no-one else knew Merlin. Arthur had to struggle between jealously hiding Merlin from his friends, while at the same time wanting to show off his new best-friend and playmate with ridiculous ears and the best sense of humour and bright-blue eyes._

_Since then, Merlin had always been there in Arthur's life. Swinging and singing at the same time when Arthur played guitar, sitting under the tree._

 

_~o0o~_

_ From the dusk till dawn _

_ Your memory rules my mind _

_ Why does my hand seek your fingers. _

_ Were you ever truly mine _

_ Tell me... Tell me.. .Tell me... _

_~o0o~_

_"How much does it cost?" Merlin was asking the vendor who, unfortunately for himself, had dared to get near the Pendragon Manor._

_By the time Arthur reached them, Merlin was returning something to the vendor, which Arthur snatched just in time and looked through its pipe._

_~o0o~_

_"Not bad" He complimented the calidoscope before giving it back to Merlin._

_"Why were you returning it, stupid?"_

_Merlin's ears were red as he played with the sleeves of his shirt, looking down._

_Arthur was barely able to hear the mumbled,_

_"Didn't have money." before he was pulling Merlin by his hand towards his cupboard._

_"You need money?" He asked opening a drawer and taking out a box._

_"Here is my pocket-money. Anytime you need it, just take it. You don't need to ask anyone."_

_"Not even you?" Merlin had asked; his eyes wide with surprise._

_"Not even me.  You need something now?"_

_"No" Merlin had replied still a little lost._

_"Take these keys." Arthur said before pulling Merlin once again with "come now” to show him his new tune._

_~o0o~_

_ How long will this dreary night last? _

_ Tell me please. Tell me.. _

_ How can I erase our past? _

_ Tell me please tell me. _

_~o0o~_

_Merlin was somewhat of a genius. Arthur didn't remember a single exam that Merlin hadn't topped; despite the fact that he could barely get any time what with all the time Arthur demanded his presence in his room._

_"Merlin" Arthur was getting more and more impatient by the passing second._

_"One minute." The voice floated in from the window and Arthur continued tapping his pen impatiently against the piano._

_"Mer-"_

_"I am here, your pratliness. What is your hurry anyway? I have to do homework also you know. Unlike what you like to think, my world doesn't revolve around you." Merlin is smiling softly just as he rights the few dislocated things in Arthur's room and putting some other in their places which Merlin has assigned for them._

_"I need my jacket. Mum wants me ready in 10 minutes for the stupid and boring party at Vivianne's." Arthur whines at the same time slumping on his bed as he watches Merlin open the cupboard and get his jacket for him in no less than 2 seconds. The evil thing must hate Arthur._

_"Hmph" Arthur had said; instead of thanking or anything like that._

_Merlin had just smiled amusedly before muttering "Prat"._

_~o0o~_

_ Will my arms find you again? _

_ Will your scent once again flood my senses? _

_ How am I supposed to forget your love? _

_ Were our bonds always made of clay? _

_~o0o~_

_He was 10 years old when they had gone to the ruins of a castle. Which was ‘too dangerous for ordinary people’. Not for Arthur though. And it was only expected that Merlin came with him._

_"See, this must be the place where the queen must have had tea-parties with her friends. Er was their tea in middle ages?" Arthur asked as he turned away from the ruined remains of what must have been a garden to Merlin who is sitting as usual in the shade of a tree, reading a book._

_"No in England. No. Not till 17th century." Merlin says without even looking up from his book._

_And then his mouth quirks up in a smile._

_"They might have had wine-parties though. Imagine all the ladies staggering around saying,_

_'Aye watcha say Grimelda? How is that handsome knight’s training going. Need any help with that?'" Merlin says, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively._

_"I hardly think that medieval ladies had a mixture of American and pirate’s accent. And my mother was a lady too you know!" Arthur said with an affronted air, but even he couldn't hide his amusement and Merlin once again returned to his book._

_"And here must be where the knights trained. Merlin, see this must be the place where the king trained his knights in jousting." Arthur continued, trying to re-enact the scene of training when the ground shook._

_"Merlin" He had just enough time to exclaim before he was falling. He screwed his eyes shut and expected to open them directly in the hospital. If he ever opened them again that is._

_He heard the shout of Arthur a second before he would have hit the ground before he was flooded with the sensation of floating on a cloud and slowly, slowly  moving upwards._

_Not understanding what was happening, Arthur was rather slow in opening his eyes again, just in time to see Merlin lower his outstretched hand and the his eyes turn from golden to blue._

_He noticed that he was standing on firm ground again._

_He also noticed that Merlin was looking afraid of him for the first time since they had met._

_"What was that?" He asked breathlessly once he regained the use of his tongue._

_"Erm Magic. I can do it since I was a baby. Or so my mum used to tell me." Merlin mumbled looking anywhere but at Arthur._

_"Why didn't you tell me before?" Arthur said, now hardly able hide his excitement._

_Merlin looked up unsurely at first and then a relieved smile spread across his lips._

_"Erm mum always told me not to tell anyone. Said people didn't always like magic, though it is a brilliant talent. And she always asked me to be careful."_

_"Idiot! You could have always told me! Forget it now. I can't even be angry at you! Show me what else you can do?" Arthur had never felt so impatient in his entire life. To know that Merlin, his Merlin could do magic! Real powerful magic; had his heart thumping with excitement. It didn't matter that he wasn't the one possessing the gift. After all Merlin was his and so must be his magic._

_"Well, for a start I can actually show you how the knights had been trained here." Merlin said playful before his eyes flashed a brilliant gold colour and Arthur was looking at the history of this place from 500 years back._

_"Brilliant!"_

_~o0o~_

_ From the dusk till dawn _

_ Your memory rules my mind _

_ Why does my hand seek your fingers. _

_ Were you ever truly mine _

_ Tell me... Tell me.. .Tell me... _

_~o0o~_

_"How was your result?" Arthur remembers to ask as soon as the carriage stops in front of the other Manor._

_"I stood first in the entire university!" Merlin answered with his usual brilliant smile._

_"Really? Come upstairs then! Quickly!!!"_

_~o0o~_

_"Arthurr"_

_"What?" Arthur answered from the window sill on which he was sitting with his guitar still in his hands._

_"Feast is starting in 10 minutes and you are still sitting with your guitar? Hurry up." Merlin scolds before running to help another servant who was about to trip with the load he was carrying_

_~o0o~_

_"Careful!" Arthur says as he watches Merlin douse the fire hastily, going a bit too near to the fire, next to which Arthur was standing, just as the wind had gone slightly wild._

_"Your clothes could have caught fire!" Even now when the fire is dying, he wants to pull Merlin away from it, safely into, um, preferably his arms._

_"And yours couldn't?" Merlin mocks, though there is a very very slight blush on his pale cheeks that has Arthur's heart racing._

_~o0o~_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know about all the mistakes through inbox preferably.


	3. Gwaine

 

 

" _Mer_ lin! _Mer_ lin ! What **_is_** taking him so long?" He asked Morgana who was talking on the phone with someone or other.

Exasperated Arthur started to play his piano again. Muttering all the while,

"Who gave him a job anyway? He is the clumsiest fool ever. And now all he is doing is, go to work and come back from work. He is obsessed with his stupid work."

Morgana interrupted her call for a minute to remind him of his own grievous mistake.

"You recommended him to Uther, remember!" He has the worst sister to ever grace the earth.

Arthur scowled at her and started playing again.

"Merrrrrlinnnn" 

Arthur pretended not to listen to her snort.

Five minutes later Merlin was bustling in his room.

"Percival wanted the recipe of the cake. Lance's cousin Gwaine is coming from London. And Elena wants to make him the same cake I made that day. You know how Percy can be when it comes to Londoners."

Arthur snorted, once again going through the notations.

"You are such a girl _Mer_ lin. Only you would know a cake recipe better than an actual girl. And don't tell me about Percy's obsession with Londoners." Arthur said with a fake shudder, even as he imagined Merlin's glare and then heard his snicker. " Anyways, listen to this."

Playing the melody he had composed in front of Merlin always made him a little nervous. Because no matter what he liked to pretend, Merlin's opinion mattered to him a lot more than anyone else's. 

Arthur didn't have to wait for long. He got the approval he craved for just after the first verse .

"Nice." Merlin said perching on the wondow sill and listening intently.

"Thank you" Arthur replied, rolling his eyes, and smiled as he looked back at the notations just as Merlin started humming in his beautiful voice.

He didn't miss a beat to mock Merlin. "Some lyrics would be nice" and got a swat on his arm, before Merlin started to fill in the melody with beautiful lyrics.

Merlin could never stay still when they were like this. Arthur playing and Merlin coming up with most beautiful lyrics Arthur had ever heard. He would go to the window, to the fireplace, to the candle stand and then sometimes he would just pull them to some other place  by his magic to help his senses.

As he watched Merlin surrounded with the butterflies that were always attracted to his magic, he couldn't help but think that this was the perfect life that he had always wanted.

                                                                                               ~o0o~

Merlin's POV

 

Uther's slightly rusty voice was falling on Merlin's ears making him more and more agitated. "Business is the game of Profit."

Deciding to at least give it a try, Merlin started once again, as earnest as possible,"But sir, this is charitable hospital we are talking about. It seems wrong to earn profit from this deal." 

Uther has fixed him now with a stern glare as Merlin tries not to squirm.

"Their hospital is charitable. Not my business. A deal with no profit is no deal at all."

Suddenly the phone on the desk was ringing and Merlin fidgeted with his neckerchief, that he had had to remove when in presence of Uther.

If anyone asked Merlin what he thought about dear generous Uther that Gaius seemed so fond of, they would be in for a surprise.

Uther was the most business minded person he had ever met and sometimes, like this, it was disgustingly prominent. Despite being one of the richest men in entire Camelot, the man had no heart whatsoever. People said that he was not like this before the death of Ygraine. The death of his wife had converted him into this icy cold version of himself. But Merlin couldn't see the original self anywhere in this person and he hated working for him. He had only accepted this job because Gaius couldn't earn anything as of now and he needed to support his family.

He could only be thankful that Arthur was nothing like his father.

"What do you mean he doesn't want to come?" Uther voice raised sharply, bringing Merlin back from his musings.

"He has to see the girl not us!"

And suddenly all of the air was sucked from Merlin's chest as he listened to the next words with increasing dread.

"Listen, do whatever you can. I want him ready today and sharp at 7:30. One doesn't get such proposals every day! Sophia is  Ublanc Sidhe's daughter! Do you understand? And tell him.."

He suddenly seemed to notice Merlin as he finished with a " Never mind! " Before hanging up the receiver.

"So where were we?" 

"A deal with no profit is no deal at all." Merlin answered, the meaning was not lost on him.

                                                                                          ~o0o~

 

"How is the weather upstairs." Merlin was the only person in this whole world, who could drape himself all over Morgana and not be dead the next moment. She was very fond of him.

_"She loves you as her puppy"_ Arthur always teased him.

After work ,the first thing he heard after coming home was that Morgana asked you to come to manor as soon as possible. And all the other things he couldn't even remember now. 

Morgana rolled her eyes in a very un-ladylike fashion "His highness is refusing to meet the girl Uther wishes him to marry. Please go and do something before Uther blows off half of the manor with his rage." 

Merlin smiled a little bitterly as he simply replied, "Okay!" before quickly stealing a cookie.

His mood was improved slightly as he listened to the cook's shouts.

Arthur was still playing piano. Merlin stopped the record playing, along which Arthur was playing piano, which he recognized as Elvis's song.

Despite the now mute player, Arthur continued playing the song on his piano.

"I have been so lonely"

"Not ready yet?" Merlin asked, resting his elbow on the Piano and taking in the beautiful beautiful thing, that is Arthur, wearing his undershirt and jeans and looking like he has no care of the world whatsoever.

Arthur, the prat, though simply started to sing the song to Merlin,"I have been so lonely"

 Merlin prompted once again, and he knew this will stop Arthur, just like he knew everything else about Arthur."Don't want to go to meet the girl?" 

"I could die" Arthur finished with a grimace.

"Does everybody know about that now? I don't want to go see some girl. Father... he is stubborn in every single matter." 

"Uncle Uther" Merlin said bashfully, looking at door. The expression on Arthur's face was totally worth it.

As Arthur realized that it was just a prank, he berated promptly, "Stop laughing. It's not even funny. You are such an idiot Merlin." Arthur scowled and Merlin still couldn't contain his laugh.

After huffing a little, Arthur slumped his shoulders in obvious defeat, "Now go get me a shirt. I don't have even one nice shirt." 

Merlin was already moving towards the closet. "Such a fuss! Honestly! And you call _**me**_ a girl?"

"Wow! When did I buy this shirt?" Arthur face had a perfect expression of utter surprise.

Merlin shook his head slightly, and started to dress Arthur. Trust the Cabbage-head not to know about his own wardrobe. The snob!

" ** _You_** didn't get it. Uncle Uther got it last time from London." He remembered even the date of that day, but didn't say that.

"I have such a good shirt and I didn't know!"  Arthur's exclamation almost drowns Merlin's muttered,

"Uncle."

"Shut up Merlin." He hadn't finished the sentence before he came face to face with his father.

Uther was not amused. He gave a suspicious glance between Merlin and Arthur, before asking in a stern voice,

"Are you ready yet? We have to leave right now." 

Merlin's laugh followed him downstairs.

                                                                                           ~o0o~

The party was Lavish. As was expected from any party that his father insisted he attend. But for a birthday party of a person, this seemed like too much. They were welcomed by Ublanc himself as Ublanc introduced Arthur to his wife.

"He has a great interest in music." He finished.

"It is fine as long as an interest remains an interest." Uther said pointedly just as Arthur was greeted by the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"Hi, I am Sophia." And he almost forgot his name for the first time in his life.

"Erm, Hi I am..."

"Arthur" The girl- Sophia - said with a laugh. " I know!"

"It seemed like for a moment I almost forgot my name." Arthur is stunned that he- Arthur Pendragon- would ever utter such an cheesy sentence.

Sophia was about to reply when her brother, Leon interrupted them. While Sophia had been abroad to study, Leon had always been Arthur's close friend.

"Arthur! Mate, where is your drink? Sophia, don't tell me you didn't get him a drink! Excuse my sister Arthur but let's go to the bar now!" 

 "So a business man but not just a business man. I like that." Sophia said when they are once again left alone.

"No. Just a musician" Arthur replied and raised his eyebrow ever so subtly as if challenging her to object.

But Sophia just gave a coy smile, "I like that even more" She said, almost whispered, just before sipping the wine.

                                                                                   ~o0o~

Merlin's POV

"What's being made here?" Merlin asked as soon as he entered the kitchen of Lance house.

"Nothing is being made here. It is going to be made. The fourth cake of the day." Lance replied cheekily.

Percival was the one to add this time. "Made by you."

He had the stupidest friends ever.

"Yes my brother is coming home after such a long time! And he loves my handmade cakes."

Elena added dreamily.

"The cake that you made right?" Merlin laughed even as Lance's sarcasm seemed lost on Elena.

Soon he was left alone in the house with the soon to be baked cake, and the oven, as everyone else had something or other to do.

Just as he finished mixing the ingredients and switched on the plug, there was a spark in the socket and the house sank in darkness.

                                                                                 ~o0o~

"Hello, Camelot Electicians? Yes I am Merlin and I needed an electrician urgently for it seems that a wire is fused and there is no electricity in our house. Yes, please note down the address."

                                                                                   ~o0o~

Arthur's POV

Sophia blew out the candles over the cake as the court-yard erupted in cheers.

She offered the first piece of cake to Arthur, practically shoving it in  his mouth, just as Leon whistled,

"Now that is some piece of cake!"

"How is it? I made it." Sophia asked him just as he was enjoying the delicious cake.

"Really?" He asked, impressed.

Sophia burst out laughing.

"You actually believed that! I can't even boil water. But don't worry! My father is going to send six cooks with me after our marriage. He was actually saying 12 but I said that would be too much. Six is fine right?" Arthur barely registered her words after the 'our marriage'.

"You are joking right?" 

Her laugh must have been meant for some joke that she had said after he stopped listening.

                                                                                        ~o0o~

The exceptionally handsome stranger at his front door took Merlin's breath away just for a moment.

The starnger didn't seem better off either. It was a small consolation. "You?" And he had a nice voice too.

"You are on time. Even earlier than expected, I would say.." Merlin said recovering his senses.

"Er... Yes. Thought that I would surprise them by coming earlier. And you are?" The electrician asked him once again.

Merlin led the way, with a get inside motion with his hands, on which the Electrician's gaze fixed.

"I am Merlin. I am the one who called at your office. See! There is no electricity." Merlin chattered away to dissipate the tension.

"I just put the cake in the oven. Plugged it in and then suddenly everything is dark."

There was a sharp intake of breath, before a single "Er". The stranger sounded confused. So Merlin turned around.

"What's the matter?" He asked impatiently.

The electician just looked at him transfixed.

Merlin waved his hand infront of the man's eyes and his eyes traced the motion hungrily.

The muttered, "Blown. Fuse." , did nothing to cool down Merlin's blush.

Wanting to distract the man somehow, Merlin hurriedly said, "What's this?" ,looking at the bag the stranger was carrying.

"Suit- tool box." The electrician said, grinning cheekily. So much for a blown fuse. Merlin hoped that he was as fast in recovering the actual fuse.

"One never knows how much time one will need." The electrician is more than just confident now." I always come prepared. So where is this electricity box?"

"There." Merlin indicated at the box that was perched high on the wall and looked pointedly at the stool beneath it , as if telling the staring electrician to get on with it.

The electrician;s gaze didn't lose it's adoration though. Merlin didn't know whether to be flattered or embarrased. The man climbed on the stool and opened the box to look inside.

"Do you know how difficult job we electricians have? We have to roam all around the world. One day London, the next Mercia sometimes even Singapore. I just returned from London in fact. Please check my tool box."

Merlin opened the enormous box in which there _was_ a thing that resembled tool-box, a very very tiny tool-box, but everything else was just clothes.

Weird.

"Is this it?" He asked extending the box.

"No it's my shaving kit. See, I have the habit of shaving every day." And Merlin thought that the electrician might just be flirting with him, or pulling his leg.

"Look mate-" His sentence was cut short abruptly

He could see the white teeth even in the dark.

"Can't look- see in the dark. Raise the candle higher please." 

Merlin complied, practically shoving the candle in the electrician's face, but the man had other ideas. He gently steered the candle away by holding Merlin's hand, his hand!, such that now all the light fell on Merlin's face.

"Yes. Much better." The man had a beautiful smile and Merlin might be blushing.

"Umm"

But the man was already removing the fuse and checking it.

"Do you have a wire?" He asked Merlin and  Merlin was quick to retort, "Shouldn't you be having such things?"

Again, the man didn't wait to explaine and was already reaching for Merlin's shirt pocket, taking the pen from there and now Merlin was full on blushing, if he hadn't been all along. He had never felt so flustered in his life before.

"And a hammer?" 

"A- a hammer? What for?" Merlin asked incredulously.

Amused, the man continued , "Yes. To break the wall. I will have to check the wires inside right?" looking least bothered about it, picking at the fuse with his pen.

"God, this is going to be a lengthy affair!" Merlin muttered in dismay.

He heard the man chuckle," Indeed, this affair is going to go on for a long time. Weeks even. Perhaps months or years. What do you say?"

Merlin was shocked at the man's audacity.

"You never did ask my name by the way. I am Gwaine." The man- Gwaine , Merlin corrected faintly, put the fuse back in place and the room was flooded with light just in time as Elena shouted from the door-way!

"Gwaine" Before jumping in his arms.

                                                                                              ~o0o~

 

 


	4. The Missed Recording

 

 

 

Though Elena's husband Kay found her excitement exasperating, Merlin could see where that was coming from and found it quite adorable. If Percival had still been away, only coming home once in a year or even not that much, then Merlin would have been the same. Or Arthur for that matter. But he was avoiding any thoughts of Arthur today. So he wouldn't think about him. 

And surprisingly, it was very easy in the company of Gwaine.

"So you have finally learned to bake a cake?" Gwaine teased Elena.

Elena's delighted squeal resonated in the room. "You liked it? I know how much you love home-made cakes, so I had to make arrangements."

Gwaine's eyes sparkled. "Arrangement, you say? Would that be Merlin with flour in his hair and on his ears."

Merlin felt his ears warm up. He didn't particularly wish to be reminded of the way Gwaine had brushed his hand over Merlin's ears or hair after the light was back and it had been clear that Merlin had more evidence of cake-making than the blown fuse.

Kay laughed heartily at this, finding amusement in his wife's distress and more so in Merlin's blush.

"Oh shut up, would you? I will have you know that there **_is_**  one thing in which I can beat Gwaine fair and square." She said, thrusting her nose up in the air.

Gwaine looked fondly at his sister. "What would that be?"

"3 card brag" Kay answered before his wife.

Lance's chuckle made Elena scowl. "I can! If Merlin helps me."

Gwaine smirked, "I don't think so. No-one beats me at flush. It's impossible."

"You don't know Merlin. He is like the god of flush or something." Percy is always eager to show off Merlin's qualities, even now when his thoughts appeared to be scattered because of , well, Gwaine.

"Is that so? Then let's have a challenge."

"Yes  challenge! challenge! challenge!" Percy and Lance started chanting while Gwaine and Merlin held each other's gazes.

"So tomorrow afternoon?" Elena was saying to Percy and this cleared Merlin's mind.

"No no, not afternoon. I have work, remember?" He appealed to everyone.

Gwaine took this opportunity to pet Merlin's hand. "Well then after work is fine, Merlin."

Merlin didn't know how he didn't just turn permanent scarlet that evening.

                                                                                     ~o0o~

"Good morning , Morgana." Merlin greeted cheerfully to the murderous looking lady.

She seemed more excited to see him than normal though. "Thank god, you finally made an appearance! Now  ** _you_**  try to get some information out of this prick about that girl Sophia. He won't say a thing!" At the call of someone inside she stomped off, muttering under her breath a lot of _**more'**_ foul words that would do serious damage to her 'lady' image.

Merlin forced a smile as he walked towards Arthur, who was sitting on the couch in the garden, hiding behind a news-paper.

"So, did you like that girl?" Merlin asked him as soon as he put his arms around Arthur's shoulder from back.

Arthur remained silent.

So Merlin moved from behind the couch, _ **to**_  the couch.

"Is she very beautiful? Sophia Sidhe?" He just hoped his voice was not betraying him.

"I don't know. She was like every other girl is really. I didn't even look at her properly."

Arthur's dismissive tone wasn't fooling anyone, neither was the blush that Merlin could see making way from Arthur's ears to his neck.

"Okay, what was she wearing?" He prodded, feeling childish and not caring.

"Um an off-shoulder dress." Arthur replied eagerly.

"And what was the colour?"

"Pink with a slight shade of maroon. And she had this pendant in her neck that was rather beautiful though."

"Right. You didn't look."

But Arthur seemed oblivious to the world.

"And the way she expertly flirted with everyone with charm and all in limit! In front of people that you wouldn't even be able to be playful with, Merlin."

"Why?" Merlin was surprised to listen to his own voice. 

"What?" Arthur seemed shocked by Merlin's sudden outburst.

But Merlin couldn't stop. "Just because I don't flirt with anything that moves, doesn't mean I _**can't**_  or that I lack the charm."

"I just meant that, this isn't the kind of thing that you _**do**_  Merlin. It's not how you are." Arthur still seemed puzzled.

"I will have you know that I can be perfectly charming and playful when I _**want**_  to, to the people I _**like**_."

"But..."

"Now if you will excuse me I have to get going, for some people have work too; unlike you, your highness."

                                                                                                  ~o0o~

Merlin didn't know why he was feeling angry. Or rather he knew, but he didn't want to acknowledge that. He fumed silently for all fifteen minutes before finding some calm.

"Hi Merlin!" There was his opportunity of flirting! Will, dear old Will, that worked in the next cubicle to him.

"Hey Will." Merlin replied giving a sweet sweet smile. That made Will stop and his cheeks to heat up.

"How is uncle Gaius?" Will had the relieved expression of someone who was searching very hard to find a subject to talk about.

"He is fine. Just worries sometimes. And how are _**you**_? I don't think I have seen you have some fun for a long time." 

"Don't worry about me! I am fine." Will laughed. "As for me having fun, why don't we go to dinner sometimes and try to catch up, eh?"

Merlin couldn't believe he had had so much success. 

'Ha! In your face Arthur' He wanted to crow.

"Good. So see you in lunch time? Yeah?" Merlin said already backing slowly. 'Always in limit? That's his middle name'.

"Okay" Will seemed giddy with happiness. As Merlin was just about to turn he collided with none other than Uther.

The pile of files in Uther's hand cascaded down and Merlin was still for one, whole horrified second before Uther's furious voice filled the corridor.

"You clumsy fool! Where _**is**_  your attention?" 

Merlin hurriedly bent down to help retrieve some of the files and documents. All of it had to be of most importance if Uther was carrying it himself ^and^ retrieving it. Even if one document went missing, Merlin would be sure as a day sacked, and he really needed that money.

"I am sorry, sir. It won't-" Before he could complete the sentence though, a file was snatched out of his hand, something called 'Heritage hotel project'.

"Are you retrieving the documents or spying?" If Uther had been furious before then he was positively murderous now.

Merlin had trouble thinking past his shock, "No sir, I was just-"

"Shut up" Uther spat, and Merlin once again wondered if he really needed this job.

The name 'Heritage Hotel project' didn't fade from his memories though.

                                                                                         ~o0o~

"And then _**BAM!**_ We bumped and all the papers- careful" Merlin stopped his recollection as the secretary brought tea for Geoffrey.

Uncle Geoffrey's table was always a mess. Sometimes Merlin wondered how come someone like Uther had someone as unorganized as Geoffrey as his Councillor. But loyalty seemed to matter more in case of advises. And Geoffrey was nothing if not loyal. He was also a close friend of Gaius so Merlin wasn't complaining. Even then Merlin knew that if it came to 'Uther or Gaius', Geoffrey will without hesitation choose Uther. But seeing as it could _**never**_  come to 'Uther or Gaius', Merlin didn't worry about that.

"You won't drink that tea by any chance, will you?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "'No.'" He knew better than keeping Geoffrey away from his tea.

Also having Geoffrey drink tea had it's own perks.

"So uncle, I was wondering what this 'Heritage Hotel Project' is about." 

It seemed like only with years of practice did Geoffrey manage to swallow the tea.

"He- Heritage Hotel. No. Never heard of it. Why? Did someone say something?"

Merlin was bewildered to say the least. He had _**never**_ seen Uncle Geoffrey this flustered and for him to stammer... It didn't take much of a genius to know that there was something quite not right here.

"No. It's just.. There was a name on one of the fallen files. So I just wondered."

"On fallen files. Did you happen to see something else as well?" Geoffrey wiped his brow in a nervous gesture.

Merlin gave a fake laugh. He didn't want Geoffrey fainting or anything and looking at the way he was reacting, it was probably a close thing.

"How was I supposed to? He snatched it like an angry hen would snatch her chick."

They both laughed at this, albeit a little forcefully.

"That's Hitler Uther to you. You know you should ignore his scolding, right?"

Even a toddler could sense the attempt at changing subject and Merlin let it pass for the time being.

                                                                                ~o0o~

"What is this Merlin? You were supposed to come early!"

"Now we are losing miserably." 

For some reason even Elena and Percy's whine cheered Merlin up a bit. It was so good to be at Elena's house. Good to be somewhere, where he felt comfortable with the down to earth decoration and people. Where he knew everyone respected him and didn't consider him beneath himself. Times like this he thought that there was some sense in marrying with people of your status. 

Merlin had never felt the need to stay away from Arthur so strongly as he did now.

There had been women in Arthur's life before. Of course there had been. There had been Vivianne, Lily even Elena once.

And most importantly Gwen.

Gwen had been hopelessly in love with him. Though the Smith's financial state was better than Gaius and much much better than _**Merlin**_ , personally, it was not even close to what Uther expected. Merlin had always been friends with Gwen. And he had helped her like a good gay friend would in her conquest of Arthur, even though it had hurt a bit. But Merlin had been naive then and didn't care for things like love. And he didn't understand why it hurt. He had convinced himself then that it was because the probable heart-ache Gwen would face if Uther refused her as his daughter-in-law in a distant future. Much distant future. They had only been 17 then. 

He had helped her by informing her of Arthur's impromptu wanderings. He had made Arthur trip and stumble and disturb bee-hives and saved him. And Gwen had immediately became a strong girl in the eyes of Arthur. Or so Merlin had thought, and it should have been that way because he had made sure that he not be seen in the premises of these incidences.

Arthur had defied his father then. Making a loud proclamation of love and stating that he will marry Gwen and only Gwen. Even giving a ring to her as a promise. And then turned a calculative gaze at Merlin. Merlin had only grinned then, unable to suppress his joy. Arthur defying Uther was an unending source of delight for Merlin.

But his heartiest congratulations had seemed to only crumble Arthur's resolve. In five days, Arthur had broken up with Gwen. 

                                                                                             ~o0o~

_"You broke up with Gwen?" Merlin was furious. And Arthur didn't seem surprised to see him so._

_"Yes. I did." Arthur didn't even have the curtsy to look ashamed._

_Merlin took a deep breath to calm down. Succeeding only a little. "So. Care to tell me why?"_

_"Care to tell me why you endangered my life constantly and saved it again and let her take credit." Arthur's tone was calm and resolved. Merlin stumbled a little but caught himself in time for once._

_"She told you?" And then Arthur's eyes widened._

_Shit._

  
_"No! She didn't! And now that you have confirmed it I am glad you asked me that question. Because,_ **Mer** _lin, I didn't want to like someone for something they_ **didn't** _do."_

_"But it's Gwen! You know she would do it if she had the power." Merlin protested knowing that it was going to be of no use._

_The fact that puzzled him was that Arthur didn't seem to be much surprised or heart-broken. It was as if he knew this was happening from the start._

_"Yes, she didn't have the powers. But she should have had the curtsy to tell me the truth at least when I was fighting so hard with my father for her."_

_Merlin took a step forward to shake Arthur and demand answers._

_"Then why wait this long? I know now that you knew this from start. Don't tell me you didn't. If you hated it so much, why not just tell her at the start?"_

_Arthur was looking ashamed for the first time now. He looked at the book in his hand once again and Merlin knew he was trying to ignore him._

_Not so easy Arthur Pendragon._

_"Yeah. Now you don't want to answer the question? That's a bloody brilliant idea but I am not going to stop till you tell me , so you might as well start now."_

_Arthur didn't look up._

_"On the count of three or you know what I will do."_

_"One"_

_Arthur's eyebrow twitched but he didn't look up._

_"You will never find me at recordings again."_

_Arthur's clutch on the book tightened._

_"Two."_

_Another moment of silence._

_"So be it. You know I will never back down. Not when Gwen is involved."_

_Arthur stirred a little in the chair._

_"Th-"_

_"Fine, I will tell you. Be free to laugh at my stupidity." Arthur had banged the book on the table and a vase was mid-air when Merlin froze it._

_Floating the vase back, Merlin asked, " It's not my fault you make it so easy. Now spill or I am about to go."_

_Arthur twisted his mouth in a grimace. "I - ithoughtyoufanciedgwen."_

_"What? Did the spell bounce back on your face?" Merlin asked frowning._

_"No."Arthur said, rolling his eyes, " Though if it had, I would have been eternally grateful to it. I said, I thought you fancied Gwen."_

_Merlin opened his mouth once and closed it before opening it again._

_"And?"_

_"And- I don't know what I was thinking. Then you started helping her like that. And I just got confused and decided to be noble by granting her happiness and hoping you would forget her then. I just don't know what I was thinking." Arthur finally put his face in his hands, where it belonged really in Merlin's opinion._

_There was a long, uncomfortable silence._

_"Was that why you have that pained expression all the time?"_

_"Wha-"_

_"It must be the reason! But think Arthur! Imagine how much it would have hurt if you had tried to think up something logical?"_

_Arthur's expression cleared a moment later and he hurriedly got up and hugged Merlin. Merlin didn't even feel embarrassed when he buried his nose in Merlin's hair to say_

_"So we are okay now."_

_Merlin couldn't help laughing at hearing the shear relief in Arthur's voice which was ridiculous because it wasn't Merlin he had hurt by this stupid charade._

  
_"Yeah. You may be a prat but you are_ **my** _prat. You dollop-head."_

_Merlin could never understand what gave Uther powers to make an appearance at the most intimate moments of their friendship._

 

                                                                                             ~o0o~

They had never talked about that again. Arthur had the curtsy not to ask for the ring back and Gwen wore it around her neck, with the devotion of a teenage lovesick girl, till the time Lancelot returned from his military training for a short vacation, with built muscles and a uniform.

But things were different now.

Merlin knew what it meant to love and to have a person mean the world to you. And he knew that person was Arthur.

Arthur had no reason to stand up to his father this time, because clearly there wasn't anyone he loved.

He was pulled out from his thoughts by Gwaine saying," I told you all that no-one can beat me."

Percival was quick to jump at Merlin's defense, "You don't know Merlin. He is like a wizard at this." and he hid a smirk at this," You will see soon when you lose to him."

"Is that so" Gwaine's amused and gorgeous smile made Merlin feel a blush creeping up from the back of his neck and he moved a hand through his hair and on the flushing skin, as something to do when Percival and Elena loudly proclaimed that ' _ **it is so**_ ' and there were bets settled that if Merlin loses, he would take them to a night-club and if Gwaine loses, he would take them to the poshest restaurant in the town called 'Avalon'.

"Night-club?" Merlin asked before he could really stop himself and Gwaine was smirking  a second later,

"Why? Are you afraid of going to a night-club?"

Merlin tilted his chin up immediately. He would not let this extremely handsome, drop-dead gorgeous, with a smile to die for man question his guts like this. No he would not. And it absolutely didn't have anything to do with the thrill of going to the night-club with the extremely handsome, drop-dead gorgeous, with a smile to die for man in question. Nothing at all.

"Night-club it is then. Now shall we start or do you need time to warm up to lose for the first time tonight?"

                                                                           ~o0o~

"Show your cards" Merlin demanded a little cautiously.

Gwaine smiled just a little. "Lost your confidence so easily?"

Merlin wanted to wipe that smug smile off the man's face. But he just scowled.

"I have confidence. Not over-confidence. Now show." He said making a show of looking at his cards with concentration.

"Here is a jack. Now show one of your card." Gwaine said after mumbling something that sounded like 'I am never recovering it again'.

"Why should we show our card? We have asked for a show." Merlin retorted, bewildered a little.

Gwaine was smiling again. "I am baring my soul for you here and you won't even show me a card?"

Merlin was glad Percy and Elena are the least observant people on earth. Though the way Gwaine's eyes follow his blush had him wishing he could vanish in thin air. Well technically he could. But Gaius would have his head if he actually tried that in front of so many people.

Apart from a gleam in his eyes Gwaine shows no reaction as he showed another jack.

Percival and Elena were already excited, though Percy showed it by chuckling, Elena was jumping up and down demanding 'Avalon' as a constant chant.

And then Gwaine showed another jack.

Merlin looked up so quickly he was thankful his neck had seen a lot worse and was hardened as a result.

"You weren't bluffing?"

Gwaine's eyes shone with sincerity when he said, "I never bluff."

"So?"

"Just pure plain luck."

                                                                             ~o0o~

When the wrong lyrics clearly had a horrible effect on the song, Arthur wanted to bang his head on the wall repeatedly.

"Are you sure this is what it says?" Elyan asked tentatively.

Arthur knew it was wrong and he knew Elyan knew that too; so he glared for a good time before replying.

"Merlin wrote the lyrics for that. I don't remember. Whatever I remember is that."

Elyan's mumble of 'clearly that's far from enough' just made him glare harder.

"Why isn't he here yet?" Elyan asked him finally. The same question was making Arthur lose his patience for last one hour.

"You are the arranger. You should know that." Arthur snapped, knowing he was wrong but Merlin was not here to chastise him and it was his fault anyway so he didn't apologize either.

"I am the music arranger, Arthur. It's you that he does this work for. It's not like it's his job or something. Besides, did you even tell him when was the recording."

"Yes I should have sent an engraved invitation, right?"

Elyan made a dissatisfied sound when the singer interrupted once again.

"Sir, don't you think we should use boat instead of ocean here?"

Arthur wanted to smash the glass separating them.

"Sing what is written there."

"But it doesn't fit the beats, sir."

Elyan looked annoyed.

"What are you doing Arthur? We have to respect our singers!" He whispered furiously before shouting,

"We will see what to say there later."

"Pack up" Arthur snapped.

Elyan turned, surprised, "What?"

"I said pack up" Arthur replied before putting the guitar in it's place almost violently.

                                                                                 ~o0o~

"I don't understand why he didn't show up though." Elyan fretted for the thousandth time. If the Cadillac El Dorado wasn't so dear to him (and expensive) he would have been tempted to drive it at a horrifying speed to shut Elyan's mouth in an horrified scream.

"I said, I don't know!" Arthur snapped again, whirling the car just in time to save it from ungodly scratched on it's beloved fins.

He knew what Elyan was getting at, really he knew. He hadn't told Merlin but it was the fact that Merlin ^always^ knew when to come to recording because they would practice the night before together. But last night Merlin wasn't home and wouldn't come either, upon sending two messages. And Arthur had sulked for four hours before finally sleeping and Merlin hadn't made an appearance in the morning either. Percy said they had a late night playing cards or in other words Gambling.

Honestly.

But he didn't want to leave a message or something. Because that is not what they _**did**_. Merlin should have just known!

"How could he have known when you didn't even tell him!" Elyan exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exaggeration. That's when he spotted Merlin.

He would spot that scruffy hair anywhere. Really. And the man standing next to him, at the ice-cream parlor wasn't difficult to spot at all. Though Elyan was ready to catalog all that he could see.

"See there he is. Who is that man next to him? Never seen a handsomer lad before."

Arthur saw the man look at Merlin like the sun was shining there instead of it's normal place in the sky, saw him gesture at Merlin's lips, above which some ice-cream was clearly visible, saw Merlin miss it and then saw the man brush it with his fingers.

He didn't miss the way the fingers lingered over Merlin's lips or the way Merlin ducked his face, smiling shyly, either. 

He didn't know how he was going to explain the dent on the stirring wheel to his father.

"Seems quite interested in Merlin too. And I don't think I have ever seen Merlin blush like that. Do you think-"

Later that night, even as he listened to Elyan complaining about how he hadn't had money, and almost stole from a beggar to get home, all he could see was the man, Gwaine was it?, touching Merlin's lips and the soft blush on Merlin's cheeks.

The painful twist in his gut wasn't cured even by Gaius's most effective potion.

Neither did his urge to smash anything and everything withing his reach leave him.

                                                                                   ~o0o~

                                                                      

                                                             

 

 


	5. Night Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels somehow silly to write such a confused thing for there is 50s era but no homophobia and well a lot of mixed concepts. But I hope it's not too stupid.

 

 

~o0o~

Playing guitar for half of the day had done nothing to help Arthur’s condition of general frustration. The patterns on the ceiling were becoming less and less interesting and starting to get confused in his head while the mattress seemed to be hardening for each second; which could hardly be true. So it must have been something like illusion. Maybe Arthur was coming down with something. He hoped not; for then if not Morgana then Merlin would definitely make his life unbearable by fussing like a mother hen.

Speaking of the devil…

Merlin had entered the room to get straight to the cupboard. Arthur watched him opening the drawer to get money. Arthur had mostly seen Merlin in casuals but today he had done more than enough dressing up for whole lifetime. Arthur didn’t even know Merlin owned a flannel suit and those trousers.

Arthur returned to his observation of the ceiling and if the cords of the guitar were rather aggressive; well he was an aggressive man.

“I have taken 20.”

Arthur saw no reason to discontinue his musings for such inadequate and useless information.

“I lost a bet. I have to take them to a night club.” Merlin was standing by the head-board now and Arthur could smell his cologne. Arthur didn’t know Merlin had that cologne either. Spitefully he decided to ask him what he buys with Arthur’s money from the next time onwards. Though for all Arthur knew, Merlin might be conjuring the cologne from thin air.

At least, Arthur was safe in the knowledge that, this Gwaine didn’t know about Merlin’s magic. Well no-one except Gaius, Arthur and Alice knew.  This cheered up Arthur terribly. And so did the way Merlin was fiddling with the wood of the head-board and lingering in Arthur’s room instead of hurrying back to his manor to go to that night-club.

He knew Merlin would never divulge more information unless Arthur asked and neither would he leave without extracting a response from Arthur. So Arthur gave a sigh of long suffering,

“So who do you mean by ‘they’?” He asked suspiciously.

“I meant El, Percy, Gwaine, Lance and…”

Arthur interrupted without delay, “Who is this Gwaine?”  Honestly, he couldn’t afford to waste time by breaking the cord and then repairing so he stopped taking his anger out on the Guitar.

“Umm, Elena’s cousin from London? He owns a lot many steel plants. Do you know how he came to acquire his first steel plant?” Merlin’s enthusiasm irked Arthur like nothing else in this case.

Arthur’s tone was clearly bitter this time around.

“Learnt all his history; have you? I suppose that’s why you don’t have the time to come to recordings?”

Merlin shifted and frowned and Arthur could hear his pout without even looking up, “When was this recording? Why didn’t you-“

“No. Don’t worry. You have better things to do like, playing cards, eating ice-cream and going to night-club.” Arthur interrupted for second time. And his father would be appalled by his manners but this was Merlin and he was guilty of spending time with and admiring other men than Arthur and Arthur couldn’t be arsed about manners right now.

Merlin just chuckled in response before heading towards the door; probably deciding that Arthur was sulking because of the missed recording and eager to get to steel-plant owner Gwaine.

“Percy told you about ice-cream; didn’t he?” He asked with fond exasperation in his voice which infuriated Arthur even more.

“So now you are hiding things from me.” He asked through gritted teeth and Merlin whipped his neck back with such a speed that Arthur was surprised it didn’t creak. Also, one of the lights in Arthur’s room went out in response to Merlin being upset. Arthur wanted to smash the traitorous bulb.

Merlin returned with hesitant steps back to Arthur and Arthur could now easily look into his clear blue eyes that showed his nervousness.

“I am not hiding anything. I just told you now; didn’t I? That I am going to night club.”

“Now? After dressing up and just before you leave?” Arthur asked after breaking the eye-contact and staring at the other lamps instead.

There was silence from Merlin’s part for some time. Arthur felt vindictive pleasure in having slightly ruined Merlin’s evening with Gwaine and immediately felt guilty but he wasn’t going to back down now. He put the guitar in its place and waited for Merlin to say whatever he wanted to say.

“Then tell me now. Should I go?” Merlin asked in a placating tone that showed that he knew Arthur was going to agree and that he thought Arthur was just being a prat and he didn’t know how he put up with all of Arthur’s antics.

“Sure you should go. Just don’t pretend to ask my opinion. Go now. You don’t want to keep Gwaine waiting.”

And if all of the lights in the room went out this time around then it was fine because Arthur was turning in for the night anyway.

 

 

~o0o~                                                                       

“What- oh I am so sorry”

The sound of the laugh and giggles was carried to Arthur’s window easily in the night’s silence. He checked the clock and it showed a time well past midnight as he had suspected. Pushing the covers off him he walked towards the window without bothering to put on the lights or slippers.

All he could see in the dark was, well nothing much at all. Just some drunken voices whose owners he couldn’t trace back to the specific person apart from their genders.

“Oh I am sorry I spoiled your coat with wine. Really I am. You can’t-“The drunken slurred rambling of the male were cut off mid-sentence by a female voice.

“His spoiled coat is nothing in comparison to your spoiled character, sweetie.”

Arthur pulled the curtains over his window and couldn’t even hear the car driving away over the roar of blood in his ears.

 

~o0o~

Merlin was surprised to find Arthur awake when he went to his room next morning just after dawn. Normally Merlin had to use a lot of normal as well as magical coaxing to get Arthur to face the world. Nevertheless, Merlin ignored the brooding prat to open the curtains and take out Arthur’s clothes for the day. If Merlin hadn’t been there for his bidding, Arthur would have definitely lived like a pig; of this there was no doubt. So it was Merlin’s routine to tidy Arthur’s room for him just so he could find Arthur when he needed to.

It would have no doubt turned into a battle of wills in a moment not to talk to each other had Elyan not chosen that moment to enter with a low whistle and singing, “I have got the new Elvis EP. Check out.”

Normally such a sentence extricated a lot of exciting rambling and whooping but today there was no such reply. Elyan was confused for a moment before turning towards Merlin with narrowed eyes,

“Merlin! Why didn’t you grace us with your presence yesterday?”

Merlin looked at the bed-curtains in satisfaction before taking a perch on the edge of the bed.

“I would definitely have, had someone told me when to come?” He told with a wink to Elyan.

Elyan turned his narrowed gaze to Arthur.

Arthur shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, and failing. “What could I do? Someone has been very busy lately. What with playing cards and eating ice-cream and going to night clubs. And who knows what it will be tonight.”

Merlin barely managed to control his magic this time, though he was very tempted to strangle Arthur from behind his back with just his power. He put on a fake a smile just to be cruel and moved from behind Arthur to sit next to Elyan and took the new recording to examine.

“Well yes, I suppose that’s true. Though I really don’t know what it will be tonight. I will have to ask Gwaine.” He answered while he went through the titles of the songs.

Elyan immediately perked up, “Gwaine? Would that be the handsome young man that was standing **_very_ ** close to you yesterday?” He asked waggling his eyebrows.

Merlin couldn’t help the blush or the smile this time. So he busied himself with opening the cover.

“Well yeah; though he wasn’t standing _that_ close to me.”

“Ah! Am I to understand that there is something going on then?” Elyan never knew when to stop.

Merlin looked up to find Arthur’s eyes watching him intently. And he knew that everyone thought him to be the innocent one who bears Arthur’s tortures for no particular reason, but he could be really cruel sometimes. So he held the gaze before replying, “Who knows? There might be after all.”

 

 

~o0o~                                                                               

 

 


	6. Heritage Hotel Project

Merlin’s POV

 

“Uncle Geoffrey, do you have the blueprints-“Merlin stopped halfway through his question when he saw the seventy-plus year old man standing on a chair, reading a file, which he probably found in the loft. Rolling his eyes he closed the door behind him.

“Uncle Geoffrey? What are you doing?” He asked playfully. The table was as usual cluttered with papers and files and he started to sort through it while he was at it.

Geoffrey didn’t even remove his eyes from his file. “Going through some old documents. You know how Uther can be sometimes. What did you want?”

Merlin gave a laugh at the display of usual carelessness.

“I wanted the hospital blue-prints of course. You know uncle, some of these documents are confidential. What if someone steals them? What if it is someone other than me? Like say... Cedric?” Merlin piled most of the papers in more or less a proper arrangement, before turning to the files.

“The blue-prints are kept on the table. And you know I have given explicit orders to the doorkeeper to never let Cedric anywhere near my cabin since that incident of Cornelius Hotel.”

‘Incident’ was one hell of an understatement. Cedric had correctly guessed the weakness of Arthur Pendragon, which of course would be his gigantic pride. He had wasted no time before acting on this knowledge and had praised the prat so much that Merlin had found Cedric in the office with a desk-job the very next day. Arthur hadn’t even bothered with a background check and had ignored Merlin’s suspicions saying that ‘Merlin was simply afraid that Cedric will find himself at a higher position than Merlin in no time.’ Which was never going to be possible; what with Cedric being a homeless person whose only accomplishment was being able to read and write while Merlin had two degrees under his belt with honours of being university topper.  But the implication had stung nonetheless and Merlin had refused to speak to Arthur for indefinite amount of time and Arthur had refused to apologize **_and_** to run a back-ground check. The stubborn ass. Turned out Cedric had more brains than Merlin gave him credit for and in two weeks the Cornelius Hotel file was in the hands of enemy firm of Cenred King. The results had been ugly and the only thing that had saved uncle Geoffrey’s job was 'Merlin’s negotiation skills' with was a code name for Merlin’s magic.

It had been fun to watch Arthur panic and grovel though.

Merlin’s recollection of nicer times was interrupted with the appearance of a file called ‘Heritage Hotel Project.’

Better yet, it was not ‘a file’; it was **_the_** file that Uther had been so protective about.

Merlin was never so good at being able to control his curiosity. After all what could hurt with one look?

He looked at Geoffrey once to make sure he was still busy with his file before opening the Project file which, from the appearance of it, seemed extremely important and probably extremely confidential.

Turned out it was important to have kept it away from prying eyes. Especially from the prying eyes of Merlin.

The file had photographs of their manor. The same manor that had been filled with the laugh of Merlin and Percy in their childhood. The same corridors that Merlin had ran down countless times to escape after pulling a prank on Percival. The same manor that Uncle Gaius was so proud of and could never dream of selling it.

The same manor that was mortgaged to Uther since last 5 years.

Merlin hardly realized that Geoffrey had taken the file out of his hand.

Their manor was going to be renovated as a hotel.

~o0o~

Merlin felt numb on his whole way back to home. He didn’t know where he was going and he almost felt like he didn’t want to know.

More than once he was only saved from the vehicles with instinctive use of magic. And even though most of the vehicle owners asked him to stop for an explanation of the bizarre incidents, Merlin kept moving.

Three months. Geoffrey had said.

Three months and they would be living in an abandoned cottage at the edge of the town, if they couldn’t pay the fifteen thousand pounds that they owed to Uther.

Could Arthur have known that?

Merlin felt absolute despair for a moment before deciding that, no, Arthur couldn’t have known that. He wouldn’t do something like that. He just wouldn’t.

The question that kept repeating in his head was how he was supposed to repay such huge amount of money in three months’ time.

He could ask Arthur, couldn’t he? But Arthur wouldn’t have such a huge amount of money. After all he hardly ever went to office and his share in the business was close to nothing except for the new project that he was going handle with the help of Leon Sidhe. No doubt an attempt of Uther to let Arthur form a bond with his future brother-in-law.

Merlin didn’t even feel the usual stab of bitterness at this thought. He just hoped that Arthur had been given some money in advance to start the project that he could spare, till Merlin thought of something.

He was stopped by a car in the middle of the road once again but it was Uther’s car this time. Merlin couldn’t bring himself to smile even when he was dropped at his house safely.

Uncle Gaius was waiting for him at the door.

For the first time Merlin noticed the way Uther looked at their manor before giving Gaius a smile.

“What’s the matter Gaius? Haven’t seen you for such a long time.”  Merlin barely resisted cringing at the false friendliness in his voice.

Uncle Gaius gave his usual embarrassed smile before replying in an equally embarrassed tone.

“I just wished that on our next meeting   I will be there to return your money, sir.”

Geoffrey didn’t meet his eyes through Uther's insistence that there was no hurry.

“It’s just money, Gaius. Don’t worry so much. I am in no hurry.”

~o0o~

Once they were inside Uncle Gaius wasted no time before telling Alice the good news that Uther had been very considerate and they needn’t worry anymore.

“See, I told you he is a nice man. You just worry too much Gaius.”

Merlin couldn’t help himself.

“This still doesn’t mean anything. A debt is a debt, no matter who we owe it to. We shouldn’t celebrate like this for no reason.”

All three of them looked puzzled at the harsh tone in his voice.

“Please... just do anything and return the money, uncle. Please.”

Merlin didn’t even know that tears had started falling from his eyes before Alice was there to comfort him.

“What’s the matter, dear? Don’t you start worrying now that your uncle has finally stopped! You don’t know Uther like we do. He is a good man.” Merlin extricated himself from her embrace with more force than necessary.

Wiping furiously at his tears he said, “No! You don’t know **_anything _ **.”**__**

~o0o~

His refuge from a problem so big had always been Arthur’s room.

Arthur was apparently getting ready to head for Ealdor. And he was still in a sour mood.

“Arthur?”

He got no reply in return.

“Arthur?” He tried once again. Arthur had always been able to read Merlin’s mood so he fortunately decided to reply this time. He looked up after wearing his shirt.

“What is it Merlin?”

It was with great effort that Merlin swallowed his pride. “I need. Money.”

Arthur rolled his eyes and went back to arranging his cuffs and Merlin found himself helping him without even thinking about it.

“Then take it. You have the key; don’t you? And I assure you that you having new friends doesn’t mean anything in that matter.”

He looked at his hands while arranging Arthur’s tie before explaining further, “I know. It’s just… I need a big amount.”

Arthur hummed absently and Merlin could feel his stare even though he refused to look up. He was almost done with the tie.

“How much?”

Merlin’s face felt hot as he replied, “Fifteen thousand.”

Arthur almost reeled back and Merlin finally looked at him. “You are joking, right? Or have you decided to gift someone a new steel-plant?”

Merlin felt a spike of irritation at that and tightened the knot almost viciously. “Stop making fun of this Arthur. I am serious.” His voice broke somewhere during this sentence and Arthur sobered up immediately. Merlin turned away from him to hide the tears that were threatening to spill down.

“What’s wrong, Merl?” Arthur asked, and put his hands on Merlin’s shoulder in a hesitant touch.

Merlin tried to talk but his throat felt choked up and instead the voice of a glass breaking filled the room. Merlin noticed that everything in the room was shaking. He knew he couldn’t control his magic in this emotional state. He just couldn’t.

“Merlin, calm down. Please stop.” Arthur said urgently and another object broke somewhere in the room. Merlin couldn’t calm down. He felt his body shake with choked up sobs before Arthur turned him around and pulled him in an embrace.

“Shh.. It’s okay. Calm down, please. Tell me what’s wrong and we will fix it.” Merlin barely managed to not cause any more chaos before his magic calmed a little and he sobbed silently in Arthur’s shoulder.

Merlin didn't know how much time passed before his breathing evened. Arthur was still rubbing his back in comforting circles. 

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Arthur asked and Merlin looked up this time to see Arthur’s sky blue eyes clouded with worry and felt confident that Arthur will believe him.

“Our” He cleared his throat and tried once again, “Our home-“

But he had run out of time. Uther cleared his throat from the doorway and Arthur immediately released Merlin to face him.

“Let’s go Arthur.” There was sound of hustle downstairs, indicating that it was time for Arthur’s departure to Ealdor.

Arthur looked at Merlin and said, “I will be down in a –“

“ ** _Now **Arthur.”**_**

And Arthur was gone with a last puzzled glance towards Merlin.

Merlin had never felt more alone in his life.

~o0o~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Planchette

Merlin went to find Lance. There was no way Lance could afford such a huge amount of money; but he always had level-headed advice and… time for Merlin.

The door was as always open; Elena had a trust in everyone’s inherent goodness.

Merlin knew now how wrong she was.

There are always thieves. There are always people that want to steal the last thing you have. There always robbers, for whom your lives mean less than a coin of gold. There are always people who leave you for the crows even when they know you need them now the most.

Merlin pushed through the open door with a deep breath, and the sudden noise almost deafened him.

“We are doing planchette.”

“Come join us.”

“Gwaine says he is the expert in Ouija board games.”

  Merlin took in everything in front of him. There was a wooden board placed in the middle of the table that Merlin knew was usually in Lance’s room. A metal piece was lying on the board and everyone was really excited about the game.

It was really not a time to dampen Lance’s mood.

“I- I don’t want to play this. I will come back when you have finished.” He said, already half turned.

Lance looks up from his book about instructions about the board game. From the frown on his forehead it was obvious that he knew something was wrong.

Merlin tried to communicate without words that it’s alright, they will talk later.

The problem with such communications is of course that no-one else understands what is going on.

“Come on Merlin. It’s just a game. Nothing serious. I will have you know no one has ever been possessed when I am the one answering.” And even though Gwaine's voice was laughing, Merlin could see in his eyes that, he knew something was not right.

Not to attract any more attention, Merlin sat down next to Percy. “I will just watch it from here.”

Even as the game proceeded, Merlin really couldn’t focus on it. An occasional word or two was all he registered. He knew that his plan had failed spectacularly. By now, even _ **Percy**_ must have guessed that Merlin was still not feeling as good as he would have liked to believe.

Percy’s next sentence proved the credibility of his thought.

“Let’s ask if Merlin’s problem is going to be solved.” Percy said, enthusiastically.

“Yes. Yes. Let us.” Elena cheered.

Merlin couldn’t help but get a little curious. Either way he had to act curious anyway. Gwaine gave him a small smile when he finally looked in the actual direction of board, and consequently Gwaine. Merlin was not surprised to find that it didn’t have its usual effect, though he managed to smile a little in return.

“Okay. So let’s ask it then.” Gwaine declared and closed his eyes to concentrate on the spirit, or that’s what Merlin supposed anyway.

Elena started asking in a dreamy voice.

“Will Merlin’s problem be solved soon?”

Merlin looked at the board. He knew it was stupid and he should probably just get home to get some sleep, but hope was a tempting thing. Who knew whether this kind of things were real true? Magic certainly was.

The piece started to move in slow, jerky movements. Percy was writing down the letters in at most concentration. He must have had been doing that all the time since the page was filled with Percy’s scrawny writing, reading words like Pudding, Switzerland, Turkey and inexplicably grasshopper’s blood.

Merlin was startled as he heard Elena’s whooping.

Apparently the answer was yes.

Elena continued excitedly, “Who will solve Merlin’s problem?”

For some reason Merlin really, really hoped that it was not Arthur. Of course the main reason was that any of Arthur’s money was indirectly Uther’s. It wouldn’t do to pay one’s debt with another debt from the same person. And maybe the other reason was that, he really didn’t want to ask Arthur of such huge favours. Something he couldn’t possibly repay anytime soon.

The piece traced the letters G W A I N E.

“Gwaine! Oh my god, Gwaine is going to solve Merlin’s problem!” Elena and Percy cheered. Gwaine crowed. But before Merlin could truly smile, Lance suddenly said, “Of course Gwaine will solve Merlin’s problem. After all he has the magnet, doesn’t he?”

It was all Merlin could do not to cry as Lance showed the magnet, Gwaine smiling guiltily in response.

“I _**really**_ don’t appreciate such jokes.” Merlin didn’t mean to sound too rude, but honestly he was tired of all the ‘Merlin needs help’ drama. It made him feel helpless and he hated himself for even hoping that someone as a stranger as Gwaine, would help him.

The moment he was out of the door, footsteps followed him.

“Later Lance.  I-I don’t feel well right now.”  Merlin had a difficulty hiding the quiver in his voice.

“I am not Lancelot but I can tell that you need to talk about whatever is troubling you as soon as possible.  If you stay in the bed for the next couple of days, how are we supposed to go on?” Gwaine, bless his soul, was still feeling charitable towards Merlin; and apparently still wanted to flirt with him.

Merlin stopped to look at him properly. Even through the cheerful and ‘I don’t give a bother’ facade, Merlin could see that he was really concerned, about Merlin.

Merlin didn’t think he deserved such good friends.

Apparently sensing his gratitude, (or something like that) the plants in the garden suddenly started to bloom with flowers.

“Err…” Gwaine looked with an unsure expression towards the blossoming roses.

“Oh god!” Merlin wished the ground could really swallow him right now. He could already feel the heat in his cheeks.

But the blooming roses were least of Merlin’s problems.

Gwaine knew about his magic now! He had seen Merlin’s eyes turn gold! Oh shit!

“Um… I can explain?” Merlin started tentatively only to be cut by Gwaine’s, “Of course! Someone looking like that could only be magical.”

Normally Merlin would have bristled, thinking that the comment was about his ears; but the reverence in Gwaine’s voice made his cheeks feel even hotter.

Yes, invisibility definitely had its perks.

Despite the temptation; Merlin stayed there, very visible and very red.

Gwaine stepped closer to Merlin. “So are we ready to tell me about the problem.” He asked in a low voice. Merlin opened his mouth to refuse but Gwaine’s finger was on Merlin’s mouth in an instant.

“Please?”

Merlin could only nod and repeat the events of the day; after Gwaine removed the finger that lingered a little longer than was absolutely necessary.          

 

~o0o~

Two days had passed since Arthur had left Camelot. Gwaine had been surprisingly sympathetic about the whole ordeal, and though he didn't really give any sort of advice, it was good to get some things out of one's chest. And Merlin really tried not to concentrate on the events that had followed.

When Gwaine had tilted Merlin's chin up, so that he could look in Merlin's eyes; Merlin had frozen at their close proximity that he hadn't noticed till now. And when Gwaine had bowed his head a little down in invitation, Merlin was moving in without even thinking.

They had broken apart in a moment. Merlin sputtering something about how he didn't know what he was thinking and how it was stupid and finally how it was Gwaine's fault and he had taken advantage of Merlin's vulnerable state.

Gwaine had just laughed and said,” Are you still vulnerable, by any chance?”.

Merlin had fled the scene as soon as possible.

It was a momentary lapse of judgement. That's what it was. And Gwaine wasn't stupid. He would also understand.

Apparently Gwaine was generous as well as wealthy and as unsubtle as possible.

“I am giving you salary for the next five years in advance.” He finished.

Uncle Gaius still had his mouth open. Merlin could see that even from the small crevice, he was currently using to eavesdrop and spy a little.

“But I have no experience of working at such a position. Also I am an old man, Gwaine. There is no guarantee of me of being here next day, you can't give me advanced cash for five years.” Gaius said after some time.

Merlin was horrified even listening to this sentence, so much so that he couldn't stop calling out, “If you ever say something like that again I am going to destroy the – the garden.”, and then promptly bit his tongue.

Gwaine's laugh was the last thing he heard as he, once again, fled.

 

~o0o~

Arthur's POV

The last week had been a torture for Arthur.  All he could see the moment he closed his eyes even for a second, was the way Merlin had looked the last time Arthur had seen him. He only hoped that he had imagined the betrayed look in Merlin's eyes. What was he supposed to do? Merlin knew Arthur never disobeyed his father. Though Morgana tried to do that from his behalf, he was reluctant to even let her suffer that, even though she was the queen of all the harpies. Surely Merlin didn’t expect him to start disobeying his father now?

But the guilt ate away at him. Even though he had inquired in a hurry after the health of all the members of the Ebrauc household to a servant, it was not enough. There must be some serious reason behind Merlin's distress. And if it wasn't the health of someone, then Arthur was at loss as to what it could be.

He couldn't even phone Merlin. Leon was like a constant shadow behind him and sometimes even Sophia joined them. If he had tried doing that, it would have looked as if he had some- some ' _ **sweetheart**_ ' back home. And he didn't. Merlin wasn't- his sweetheart. And, he reasoned, if it was really urgent then **_Merlin_** could have phoned him. It wasn't _that_ difficult getting his phone number from Morgana. Or he could tell his problem to Morgana herself.

Regardless, Arthur was glad to be finally back. And the moment he had finished his unpacking, he almost ran down the stairs. He thought he saw a thunderous expression on father's face; but he really didn't want to wait just then.

Just as he was crossing the grounds, he saw Gaius's old and familiar figure making way towards the gate.

“Uncle Gaius!” He called out, already eager to know Merlin's news.

Gaius stopped and turned around and after seeing him gave a cheerful wave.

“What brought you to our humble abode, Uncle?” Arthur asked, joking. If Gaius was happy then certainly so was Merlin? Arthur already felt like whooping with joy.

Gaius laughed heartily, “I was finally able to return the money I had taken from Uther. Now finally the manor is no longer mortgaged” he answered without any reserve, he also waved the papers a little.

Arthur smiled in return, genuinely happy, “That's great, uncle. But I don't think you should have worried about it so much. You know father doesn't need a little money that he lent to a friend.”

Gaius nodded, “I know, Arthur but you should have told that to Merlin. He was worried sick lately and the opportunity presented itself, thanks to the very generous gentleman Gwaine Du-Lot. Surely you know him? A fine young man, he is. For us he is more like a help from above than anything.”

Arthur felt his smile fall as the realization dawned on him.

“How much money did you return to my father, uncle?” He asked, hoping he would just come out as curious.

“It doesn’t matter now, dear.” Gaius answered cheerily, “I returned it together with the interest.”

“How much?”, Arthur insisted. Gaius’ eyebrow went up slightly but he answered nonetheless, “Fifteen thousand, Gwaine has given me an accountant position at his firm. And he gave me the salary of next five years in advance. Isn’t that very kind of him? And when I said that I might not be able to do work for that long, he was more than willing to let Merlin take my place, in time. ”

Of course he was. He would even be ready to establish a new plant here in Camelot, if Merlin asked for it.

And now, Arthur wasn’t so sure Merlin wouldn’t ask him to.

 

~o0o~

The druid festival was in full swing when Arthur made it to there. Many people were already dancing and some young men were doing the ritual involving fire holding for some reason. Arthur’s eyes immediately spotted Gwaine in the crowd and his stomach twisted in a tight knot when he saw Merlin watching anxiously from side.

The coals slipped a little to the side, burning Gwaine’s hand but he managed to right them in time and finished the ritual.

Merlin ran to Gwaine the moment the druid priest declared the end of ritual, body tensed in a way it generally was, when he wanted to do something for a very long time and has had enough of waiting now. He gave Gwaine a smile that promised mischief and secrets and so much else and took Gwaine’s blistered hand in his hands.

Arthur couldn’t stop there once he saw Merlin’s eyes turn gold.

 

~o0o~


	8. Gwen't wedding

“Gwen is getting married!!!” Morgana barges into his room without even knocking and he lifts his head from his pillow enough to scowl at her.

“Morgana! Can you tone it down please?” He snarls before once again burrowing his face in the pillow.

“No, brother dearest. Unless you tell me what’s wrong, I am going to pretend that you are not sulking” Arthur could almost hear her smirk.

“Ugh” He complained before pulling pillow over his ear and cover over his face.

“Go away”

“Fine. I will leave you to your ugly brooding about how your expensive everything isn’t worthy of your charming personality. But don’t ruin this for Gwen. When she is here, I want you in the living room.” Morgana’s tone, made it clear that he had no other option but to obey.

“Yes! I will bloody well congratulate them. Now go!”

He was almost positive that she would listen this time. He even hears the sound of the heels of her shoes turning when she abruptly returns to his bedside.

“Is it about Gwen and Lancelot” Her voice is much quieter this time around.

“What? Never mind that, didn’t I just tell you to leave?” he snaps in answer.

“Answer me Arthur Pendragon or you know you will suffer. Painfully.”

 “No! Are you out of your mind? Why would you think that?”

“Because it seemed like the kind of stupid thing that you would do? Giving up a girl and then get jealous when someone else values her and takes her with them.” Morgana replied without a break.

Arthur was scandalized. “I am **_not_** that kind of a person.” He insisted and glared at her.

Morgana’s gaze was assessing and thoughtful and her tone was much softer this time around, “Or is it a boy that you gave up, now.”

Arthur hated her when she did that, because he couldn’t even get angry at her because she was being nice and he couldn't be alright with it because he couldn’t bear the truth that she bared in front of him either.

His silence answered her question.

Morgana sighed. “I suppose I should have seen it coming. I suppose I just didn’t want it to happen.”

At this alarm bells rang in Arthur’s head. “Why? Have you seen something? Tell me Morgana?" And then a terrible thought crosses his mind." Does he marry this- this **_Gwaine_**? Is it too late already?” He was feeling frantic and yet he almost didn’t want to know.

Morgana gave a tiny laugh, “I only see important and serious things in my dreams, Arthur. And believe it or not, your love life is not that important. And for that, I am eternally grateful.” She shuddered dramatically and Arthur shoved her with his foot. The tiny smile that this got from her vanished next moment, “But what I have seen… It is indeed grave and the thing with Uncle Gaius…”

She looked so distraught that Arthur had the very very rare urge of hugging her to comfort her but Morgana detested any show of weakness on her part and Arthur would rather not have those tiny prickles of irritated-witch-magic inside his skin all day.

And if the vision had this effect on Morgana; then Arthur really didn’t want to know what she had seen this time.

Morgana composed herself in a few moments and took a shuddering breath before looking at him with piercing gaze.

“I hope you have no blame in what is to come, Arthur. I hope for your sake.”

Arthur hoped so too.

“The thing is” Morgana continued, “I sort of saw this coming. The bond you two share can only be one between real soul-mates. Of course I can’t be sure.” This did nothing to quell the hope raised in Arthur’s mind. “But I kind of wished it would never come to pass.”

There was nothing about Morgana that could puzzle Arthur anymore; or so he thought till now. But this was something that surely made him frown in confusion. Arthur thought Morgana was a lot of things, but wishing misery over someone just for the kick out of it wasn’t one of her natures.

“Not because I wanted your precious feelings hurt, dear.” She said with a twist of her lips. “It’s just that, Merlin is so pure, so innocent so – so fresh if you get what I am saying”, Arthur nodded without interrupting her, “I just didn’t want it to be ruined by whatever Uther might bring in his vicious play of powers. I just wanted him to stay away from Uther you know? As much as possible. I didn’t want him to be related to Uther in any way.”

When she looked at him this time, her green eyes had gone cold.

“And to you either I suppose. After what you did or rather didn’t do when he needed you.”

“I didn’t know about that!” He exclaimed, angry at her for holding something like that against him.

Her eyes flashed with a green fire, “Didn’t you? Not even the seriousness of the situation? I must have imagined him walking out of the manor after you left, distraught and a lot betrayed, I suppose.”

He swallowed against the guilt welling up in his mind. In hiding behind his excuses he had conveniently forgotten how that must have seemed to Merlin. The way he had left him just standing there, when that was probably the only time Merlin would be so helpless and so in need of Arthur. The way the only person that Merlin trusted with everything just left him to deal with whatever it was troubling him, all alone; when Merlin had done nothing but stand by Arthur in his every decision. It **_was_** betrayal of the highest kind.

Fuck, if Arthur could, Arthur would go back in time and just stand there with Merlin, even when Uther called, even if he had missed the train, even if it meant there would be only failure in his career; if it just meant that Merlin would trust him again, would- would love him the way he used to before. If it meant his eyes would light up the same way they did before, even if all Arthur did was scowl and grunt at him. But time travel was a field that Merlin specialized in. Arthur could only wish.

“I think it’s about time you made you decision Arthur. You have taken long enough as it is.”

There was a reason why Arthur called Morgan mum sometimes, in annoyance.

~o0o~

 

MERLIN

 

It was like Merlin was living in a haze of happiness. Everything was going to be fine from now on. Besides it was Lance’s marriage just a week after their home was safe once again. Everyone had been waiting for this event for so long that for some time everyone was just happy it was going to be real soon after the announcement. Although, there was a hell lot of preparation to do. A week’s time was hardly what Elena and Morgana wanted for the preparation of their beloved Gwen’s wedding. Elyan was equally busy and as usual there was no limit to things people expected Merlin to see through. It was a week since the yearly druid festival and the rush for the wedding was because the druids had declared this night to be the most auspicious for bonding ceremonies. It was being said that even exchanging any type of bonds on this night could finish the completion of soul bonds, there wasn’t even need of vows and priests.

Obviously Elena wanted this night to be the night her beloved brother married. As if there was any doubt that Lancelot and Gwen would have a happily married life for the rest of eternity.

Merlin was so wrapped up in their happiness that he didn’t even mind the constant flirting Gwaine did. The constant references to love at first sight and how candle-lights were the best romance starters made Merlin blush, but not in an embarrassed way anymore.

Merlin knew that he was too less of person than Lance and Gwen to hope for a soul-mate and that kind of happiness. There was only one person he could think as his soul-mate and he was going to marry a girl of his dreams in probably less than a year. Uther’s business schedule made that clear enough.

Merlin could do with a second best. He could more than do with Gwaine. Gwaine was so much more than what he actually deserved, really.

And in these last days, Merlin could see it in his eyes. It wasn’t just mindless flirting. It was real for Gwaine. He loved Merlin and, it seemed, would do anything for Merlin. And Merlin could at least try to make it real for himself.

And when he started, it wasn’t really that difficult. It he really tried harder, he wouldn’t have to shake himself out of thoughts about Arthur. He wouldn’t have to try to shake off the blue eyes from his mind to focus on the chocolate brown ones. If he tried harder he really would succeed. It would take time, probably a lot more than what Gwaine would be happy with, but he would succeed in the end.

And to do that he would have to avoid Arthur. But if Morgana insisted on him going to get Arthur ready, how was he supposed stay true to his own promise?

“Morgana! He will be down in his time. Don’t worry.” He suggested her just to delay the impending doom. Once Morgana decided something she wouldn’t hear of backing off.

“When Gwen is finally dozing in the early hours in the morning after staying up all-?”

“MORGANA!”

“What? It’s not as if we don’t know what they will be doing tonight. Merlin, go and get him. I wouldn’t have him sulking all there alone when everyone else is so happy.”

And was that an accusation in her eyes?

“Fine. But if I don’t return till the morning because it takes his majesty hours to approve of some clothes then I am not going to be responsible.” He complained.

Morgana's eyes shone with mirth this time, and he pretended to not know what she might be thinking; “He just can’t find his accessories dear. You know what a girl he can be sometimes.” Morgana finally said, waving him off.

Accessories meant searching for Arthur’s favourite half-chain half-necklace and his golden buttons.

Easy enough.

 

~o0o~

“Why are you still not ready?” Merlin asked as a conversation starter.

Arthur was still in his undershirt and reading a newspaper. It was clear that he hadn’t even tried to get ready for the wedding. But Merlin could pretend that he had.  When it came to Arthur, Merlin had practice of pretending a lot of things.

“By the way it’s an excellent excuse for being absent from wedding. _Can’t find my accessories_.” Merlin continued as he rummaged through the drawer of the wardrobe.

“What is this then?” He asked a moment later, his search successful.

The shirt was easy enough to find and Merlin had already started putting the buttons on it when Arthur burst out, “I don’t want to go to that wedding.”

“Oh yes. And why is that?” Merlin asked without looking up. The time of the wedding was in less than ten minutes. He had to hurry.

“What kind of wedding is this? No engagement, no courting period. Just an invitation for a wedding. I don’t like this at all.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, “Wedding dates are not decided with your permission, your majesty. We have to listen to what the druids say. This is one of the perfect nights for a soul-bonding. Even for non-soul-mates. The druids are saying that even exchanging any sort of bonds will do the bonding. And listen to yourself. Gwen and Lancelot didn’t have courting period? What is it with your brain today?” He also scoffed for good measure.

“Yes? And what is it with you!” Arthur exclaimed, suddenly livid. And Merlin had to work hard not to just leave everything as it is and go back to the wedding. He was tired of this tug-of-war. Arthur didn’t need him and yet he wanted him at his beck and call. He didn’t want to accept his love for Merlin, but he wanted Merlin to stay there by his side for all his life, without meeting new people, making new friends, watching Arthur marry some lady of some estate. Arthur didn’t want his father to dictate his career, but he was fine with him dictating his love life.

Arthur was so full of controversies, that sometimes Merlin wondered why he even loved him in the first place.

“What is what with me?” He asked instead, trying hard to be patient.

“Yes! What is up with you? And- and with Gaius! What was the need to take money from- from Gwaine? Who is all but a stranger to all of us? Father hadn’t even asked for the money, had he?”

Merlin could do nothing but stare at the shirt in his hands.

“Do you- do you even know why he gave you that money?” Arthur asked after a moment of silence.

“Why don’t you tell me?” Merlin asked wearily. The harsh breathing was a sign that Arthur was bursting with things that would no doubt be as painful for Merlin as possible. And Arthur didn’t disappoint him.

“Because he wants to- to buy you; by taking you to night clubs and lending you money. I could have helped you. I would have given you the money.”

“And I didn’t ask you for that?” Merlin’s voice was raised enough to make Arthur turn in frustration.

“Then why didn’t you wait for me? Why did you go to him immediately?”

Merlin is glad that no-one is there in the manor. The conversation was not a pleasant one to have in privacy. He shuddered to think what Uther's reaction would have been to it. And with the raised voices it would have definitely raised his suspicions.

“And where would you find that much money?”

“I could have asked father.”

“And repay your father’s money with his own money? This is not the way things are done, Arthur. Do you even know what he-“

The silence that followed was filled both with a silent battle of wills and regret on Merlin’s part.

Regret at what he had almost revealed. Even now, especially now, Merlin didn’t want to express what he really thought and knew about Arthur’s father. Arthur would defy his father all he wanted when it came to his beloved music. But to hear a thing against him, especially from someone as insignificant as Merlin… Merlin wasn’t sure there friendship could survive that at its strongest; let alone now when it was already falling to pieces.

Arthur broke the silence first.

“He did what, Merlin?” He was close now. Merlin could feel the light tough on his shoulders. Hesitant and unsure as if to whether he wanted to comfort Merlin or do something else depended on what Merlin said next.

“It’s alright. Thank god it is all over now. And I didn’t go to that night club.”

“You didn’t? Why?” Sometimes it was painfully easy to distract Arthur to other less important, frivolous things. And equally hard to understand what exactly he wanted.

“Why do you think? You were the one who told me not to go.”

“When did I tell you not to go?”

“You were so livid. Yelled at me so much. Have I ever hidden anything from you? Have I ever gone anywhere where you don’t want me to go? It is always about what you want and yet I never complain.” Merlin is frustrated by the way his eyes are getting watery and his voice is choked off.

“Have you ever asked me what I want? If you don’t want me to go, fine I will never go anywhere." A sob escapes him anyway and Arthur closes his hands around Merlin's shoulder. "Uncle and Gwaine decided the matter of money amongst themselves. I didn’t even ask anyone for help. And yet you are here yelling at me. Why is it so easy for you to get angry at me Arthur? If there isn’t a single thing that I do right, that you like about me then why don’t you- why don’t you just-“ **_let me go?;_** he wanted to say. But the words wouldn’t come out. And Arthur was finally trying to comfort him and yet it all felt somehow hollow.

“I am sorry.” Arthur murmurs and Merlin knows he can’t have all this, because Arthur never apologizes and now he is doing just that for Merlin, and walk away from it unscathed. So he just turns to thrust the shirt in Arthur’s hands and holds up the necklace for him to take.

Arthur just stares at him though.

“I have to go now. Just- just take this.” Merlin stutters out.

“Merlin, please listen-“

“Just… Here”

Merlin throws the necklace around Arthur’s neck and turns to leave when Arthur’s hand closes around his wrist.

He can here the clock tick away in silence for what feels like eternity before Arthur speaks again.

“What have you done, Merlin?”

Merlin brushes his tears away with other sleeve of his shirt. “What else have I done wrong now?”

“Do you even know what exchanging bonds means on this night?” Arthur throws back part of his speech, and Merlin can’t pretend to be alright with the game that Arthur is playing.

“This is hardly considered as- “He turns to face Arthur to argue as usual when the expression Arthur wears leaves him silent.

Arthur slowly lifts his hand to cup Merlin’s face, and Merlin’s breathe stutters out of him.

“Any type of bond, Merlin.” He whispers, eyes roaming over Merlin’s face as if to search for something, as if he doesn’t already know everything that is there to know about Merlin.

“Arthur” Merlin tries to push him away, but strangely enough his arms lack the strength and neither does his magic answer his call.

“Arthur, stop joking.” He pleads, knowing that even if it was a joke, he could live in it for his entire life.

But then Arthur steadies his gaze to look in Merlin’s eyes; and there is nothing left to doubt.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to end this chapter. It was very difficult to stop myself from just continuing. Anyways, as usual it is not beta-ed so tell me all about the typos and grammatical mistakes. I hate to whine about English not being my first language because that's hardly an excuse for bad grammar, so bad grammar is completely my responsibility but if some of the phrases are wrong or the structure of the sentences, then please be considerate.  
> p.s. The way I have written the next chapter... it almost feels like explicit content. If anyone has problem with that please let me know. Otherwise I will just up the ratings and post it as soon as possible.  
> Thank you for reading!


	9. The Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no real summary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter has explicit content. For those who might be uncomfortable with that, you can safely skip this chapter since I have kept it short so that it's contribution to the story line is not much and you can guess what's up from the previous and next chapters.  
> And to those who want to read this : I am seriously horrible at writing this. In fact this is the first time I am even trying. So maybe you should also just skip. I don't know.

"Arthur" Merlin looks enchanted and enchanting at the same moment.

"Arthur, stop joking." He murmurs softly even as he leans in Arthur's touch on his cheeks.

But Arthur is not joking. And he knows the exact moment Merlin understands this as Merlin's breathe hitches.

"Let me finish the ritual that you started, Merlin." Arthur whispers, not wanting to scare Merlin away. He reaches for the chain around his neck and removes it perfectly, for the first time in life, even though his fingers had never shaken so much before.

"Arthur" Merlin whispers just as Arthur puts the chain around Merlin's neck. His eyes never leave Arthur's as the reality of the situation finally seems to dawn on him and he stumbles in Arthur's open arms.

Finally finally Arthur lets loose of his control as he hugs Merlin back.

He starts the kisses from Merlin's forehead tracing a path from there to just above Merlin's neck where he knows he is ticklish. Merlin's breath is erratic as he offers more of his neck to Arthur's perusal. The tiny shivers passing through Merlin's body heighten Arthur's arousal even more as he presses a kiss on Merlin's chin.

And finally on the lips.

Merlin's soft moan vibrates through his entire being just as he shifts forward. Wanting to pull Merlin nearer, wanting more of the skin, more of the honey flooding his senses, more of everything that was Merlin. The full lips moving under his lips were the source of utmost pleasure and Arthur didn't even bother to supress his moan. He wanted, he wanted Merlin. He wanted to consume Merlin.

Still tasting Merlin's mouth Arthur walked them backwards towards his bed. Merlin's hand in his hair was something that Arthur never wanted to let go of.

As he lowers Merlin on the bed, one hand cradling Merlin's head and the other disposing of Merlin's clothes. The soft noises coming from Merlin's lips are driving him mad and he just wants all the clothes that dare keep him away from pleasuring and taking pleasure in his Merlin's body, shredded to pieces.

Fortunately, Merlin's magic takes care of that.

Arthur looks up to see Merlin's half-lidded eyes and a soft smile on those kiss-bruised perfect lips. He returns the smile with equal softness before tracing the bottom lip with his finger.

Merlin takes a shuddering breath and closes his eyes and Arthur can't help but groan and dive back for those lips. Taking turns at nibbling the upper and bottom one alternatively before tracing them with his tongue.

And suddenly Merlin is arching under him with a breathy "Arthur"

Arthur can't help but smile as he inserts his tongue in Merlin's now open mouth to tangle it with Merlin's.

Merlin seems mindless by now just like Arthur feels. The way he is writhing under Arthur sets Arthur's blood on fire. And he blindly reaches for the oil on his bedside table.

In a few minutes Merlin is murmuring insistently, "Please Arthur, please please", already pushing down and asking for all of Arthur instead of just his fingers.

And Arthur complies as he enters Merlin gently, connecting with him in a way that no-one has ever done before and- and

"Oh god, Merlin" He manages to groan out at the heat clenching around him. But Merlin is in no better state. His hands are as restless on Arthur's shoulder just as Arthur's are on Merlin’s hips.

-and no-one was ever going to connect either. They were married now. Bonded for life. Merlin was his and his own. His smile was for Arthur to love, his lips for Arthur to kiss and his body-god his amazing body- for Arthur to make love to.

He is pushing in and pulling out slowly already. And Merlin's eyes water up a little. Arthur noses into Merlin's hair and sighs softly, stealing his motions.

"Do you- do you want me to stop?" He asks, even though he can't he really-really can't.

"hn?” The confused sound and the way Merlin looks up at him, so trustingly, eyes so full of adoration, earns one more groan from Arthur, along with a helpless thrust.

“no" Merlin's answer is a welcome relief and Arthur dives for those lips again murmuring,

"It will be okay soon enough", before pulling all the way out slowly and thrusting inside again.

He was not wrong. In a few thrusts Merlin is once again mindless. His fingers claw at Arthur's back; knees are locked over Arthur's shoulders pulling him deeper and deeper as if no proximity is enough for him. And Arthur feels that they are finally being one.

 

Merlin’s constant murmur of his name brings him even closer to the edge.

As his need of completion gets more and more, his hips thrust faster and he is glad he doesn't have to muffle Merlin's shouts of pleasure.

Arthur's shout as he finally climaxes, resonates through his chambers just as Merlin arches his back with eyes flaring gold and reaches his own completion.

After their breathing is settled a little, Arthur slips out of Merlin to lie side by side and pulls Merlin flush against himself.

"I love you." Arthur murmurs, nuzzling and lipping at any part of Merlin that he could reach.

"And me you." Merlin mumbles, shifting in Arthur’s arms so that Arthur can now comfortably enclose him inside them.

The small kiss that he feels on his neck brings a smile to his face just as he closes his eyes.

                                                                                ~o0o~

The third time when Arthur’s lips and hands start impatiently exploring Merlin’s pale skin, he hears Merlin mumble, “The wedding, Arthur”.

Arthur doesn’t even stop in his ministrations.

“It’s a druid ceremony, Merlin. I don’t think they will notice the absence of two people in the middle of all that crowd and rituals”. He murmurs along the pale skin.

“But- ah- but the after party at Elena’s.”

“Tell her Elyan insisted to celebrate at his place”, Arthur suggests just as he traces the rim of Merlin’s ear with his teeth lightly.

Merlin doesn’t complain after that.

                                                                                ~o0o~

Just before dawn, Arthur wakes up with the alarm ringing next to his ear.

He blindly reaches behind himself to stop it and looks down at Merlin, still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

For some time he can't believe it is true. That at this time last morning; he was lying awake, still unable to sleep, because of the fear of Merlin leaving him forever.

The way Merlin's lips are drawn down, in a frown, brings Arthur's attention to them. He traces those luscious lips with his fingers, watching the frown disappear as if by magic and Merlin's eyebrows also relax. There is a slight flutter of the long eyelashes that cause Arthur's heart to beat faster. Fearing that if Merlin opens his eyes, the spell will be broken and it will all turn out to be a dream. But Merlin’s eyes don't open and Arthur releases a breath.

He can't resist pressing tiny fluttering kisses on Merlin's eye lashes, lips and cheekbones. Neither can he control the words flowing out of his own lips.

“I love you” he tells Merlin a thousand times, traces it into his skin with his lips, murmurs it along Merlin's collarbone and ears and his lovely cheekbones. As if saying them enough time might make the temporary parting of them, less painful.

And suddenly he is on his back with Merlin perched on top of him.

“You little minx! You weren't asleep at all were you?” Arthur asks, trying to sound outraged but it comes out breathy with the way Merlin is shifting his hips, his hard length dragging on Arthur's stomach.

“Doesn't seem like you want to complain” Merlin mutters with a smirk just as he sinks himself on Arthur's length.

This time he is glad for Merlin's silence spells.

                                                                                ~o0o~

Arthur drags himself unwillingly from the bed. Merlin's sleepy kisses enough to lure him back again and again but this time he resists.

“I have a train at 7. It is 5 already Merlin.” He protests when Merlin tries to follow his lips with his own.

This seems to get through his thoughts though.

“Train?” He asks, eyes still a little unfocused and lips kiss bruised, dark red.

Arthur barely supresses a groan as he traces those same lips hungrily with his eyes.

“Yes. Train to Ealdor. Our project officially starts today” He reminds Merlin, but perhaps he isn't reminding him but telling him for the first time. Merlin has hardly been able to keep track of Arthur's time table in last fortnight after all.

He watches realization dawn on Merlin's face as it loses its puzzlement and assumes a carefully neutral expression.

Arthur hurries to cover, “You know it doesn't mean what father originally intended it to mean anymore Merlin. You know I would never do that.”

Merlin blinks a little and tries gives a weak smile that makes Arthur's heart ache a little.

“I promise I will tell father after I am back. He just- I will just need some time. I can't tell him in haste. I have to break it gently, yeah? Please, Merlin. Just this one thing? Try to understand.”

“Of course I understand” Merlin says, with a better attempt at smile this time.

“It's all right, really. I am just worried how I am supposed to explain this hour of arriving home to Alice.”

Arthur is glad for the change in subject even though he knows it's really not all right, leaving like this. Especially after all the bumps their relationship has suffered recently. But it is not in his hands right now, to right this. But he will do it as soon as he returns. Of course he will. So he smiles back.

“I am sure you will think of something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope I didn't gross anyone else out but myself. Seriously feeling the need to dip myself in holy water. I have serious issues, I know. :(

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing. Not the plot, nor Merlin.  
> Please leave some sort of reply. Anything would be better than this uncertainty I feel when posting anything.


End file.
